A 30-year-old woman presented with a seven-month history of recurrent hemoptysis. Bronchoscopy revealed a prominent vascular lesion at the distal end of the left main bronchus. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography showed a strongly enhancing lesion suggestive of a vascular origin, without definite communication with identifiable systemic vessels on imaging studies. A diagnosis of bronchial varices was made, and bronchoscopic vascular ablation using microwave coagulation was performed under rigid bronchoscopy without complications. Follow-up bronchoscopy one month later revealed scarring of the varices with no recurrence of hemoptysis. This case highlights the effectiveness of bronchoscopic ablation as a minimally invasive treatment option for bronchial varices.
Nakai et al. (Thu,) studied this question.