Approach to diagnosis and pathological examination in bronchial Dieulafoy disease: a case series

There are limited series concerning Dieulafoy disease of the bronchus. We describe the clinical presentation of a series of 7 patients diagnosed with Dieulafoy disease of the bronchus and provide information about the pathological diagnosis approach.

A retrospective review of patients who underwent surgery for massive and unexplained recurrent hemoptysis in a referral center during a 11-year period.

Seven heavy smoker (49 pack years) patients (5 males) mean aged 54 years experienced a massive hemoptysis (350-1000 ml) unrelated to a known lung disease and frequently recurrent. Bronchial contrast extravasation was observed in 3 patients, combining both CT scan and bronchial arteriography. Efficacy of bronchial artery embolization was achieved in 40% of cases before surgery. Pathological examination demonstrated a minute defect in 3 cases and a large and dysplasic superficial bronchial artery in the submucosa in all cases.

Dieulafoy disease should be suspected in patients with massive and unexplained episodes of recurrent hemoptysis, in order to avoid hazardous endoscopic biopsies and to alert the pathologist if surgery is performed.