Prospective, Observational Study on the Efficacy, the Safety and the Predictors of Success of Argon Plasma Coagulation in the Treatment of Patients With Hemoptysis Caused by Endobronchial Malignancies
Prospective, Observational Study on the Efficacy, the Safety and the Predictors of Success of Argon Plasma Coagulation in the Treatment of Patients With Hemoptysis Caused by Endobronchial Malignancies
The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy, the safety and the main predictors of success of bronchoscopic Argon Plasma Coagulation in patients with hemoptysis caused by endobronchial malignancies.
Hemoptysis is a challenging symptom which may be frequently related to endobronchial malignancies. Patients with central neoplasms and hemoptysis show a lower median survival than patients with no bleeding and endobronchial neoplasms and/or patients with hemoptysis and peripheral malignant lesions.
Hemoptysis control without recurrence at 48 hours after bronchoscopic interventions may improve survival in patients with mild bleeding and endobronchial malignancies.
Argon Plasma Coagulation is considered one of the most effective techniques for endobronchial management of hemoptysis in this subset of patients. Nevertheless, few data are available in literature on its efficacy and safety, and the main predictors of success are still unclear.
In this prospective, observational study, investigators aim to evaluate the efficacy (i.e. immediate bleeding cessation without recurrence during the following 48 hours) of endoscopic Argon Plasma Coagulation in patients with hemoptysis caused by endobronchial neoplasms.
Investigators will also evaluate the safety of the procedure, the main variables associated to a successful intervention, the presence of hemoptysis relapses and patients overall survival to 3,5 months after the bronchoscopic intervention.
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria: