Bronchial Artery Embolization for Life-Threatening Hemoptysis in COVID-19 Patients

Abstract

After the outbreak of the novel coronavirus at the end of December 2019 in China, it has become a global pandemic. Clinical manifestation of COVID-19 has a wide range of presentations ranging from asymptomatic to severe multi-organ involvement. Hemoptysis appears to be one of the major manifestations of severe acute respiratory syndrome that is related to COVID-19 infection. The occurrence of hemoptysis is multifactorial. However, massive hemoptysis is usually related to pulmonary aspergillosis or severe bronchiectasis due to corticosteroid pulse therapy which can be life-threatening. This manuscript presents five cases of successful life-saving bronchial artery embolization in patients with COVID-19 infection who were suffering from massive hemoptysis that were mostly related to aspergillosis and bronchiectasis. These cases are followed by a review of the literature.