What Are The Causes For Coughing Up Blood?

Posted on Thu, 21 Nov 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 21 Nov 2013 Answered on

Wed, 11 Dec 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : Possible causes for coughing up blood

Answered by Dr. Gyanshankar Mishra (15 minutes later)

Brief Answer: Infective as well as non infective causes exist. Detailed Answer: Hi, Thanks for posting the query on XXXXXXX 1. Coughing of blood is called "hemoptysis". 2. Possible causes of hemoptysis are - respiratory infections - pneumonia, TB, Bronchiectasis, cancer, foreign body aspiration, bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, etc. 3. Sometimes the cause of bleeding is in the upper respiratory tract, or bleeding source from the gums or mouth, and need to be ruled out by a local examination. 4. Evaluation include a mandatory chest Xray if local causes have been ruled out. Most of the times it an infection and responds to course of antibiotics. I hope I have answered your query. I will be glad to answer follow up queries if any. Please accept my answer if you have no follow up queries. Regards Dr. Gyanshankar Mishra MBBS MD DNB Consultant Pulmonologist

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar