What is Blood in Mucus?
Blood in Mucus is a medical condition that is referred to as “Hemoptysis”. The word hemoptysis originates from the Greek words haima and ptysis, which literally mean blood spitting. This condition is the coughing up of blood which stems from the respiratory tract. The blood may come out from the nose, mouth, throat or from the airway passages leading to the lungs.
Blood in mucus in patients with good physical shape usually suggests a mild infection. In fact, the most frequent reason for coughing up blood is ruptured small blood vessel brought by coughing or bronchial infection. This cause is also the least serious.
Conversely, in individuals with a history of smoking and those who are otherwise with the chance for lung disease, the manifestation of hemoptysis frequently means a serious medical condition. Serious diseases which can result to bloody sputum include bronchiectasis, pulmonary embolus, pneumonia and tuberculosis.
The condition may also result from breathing in foreign bodies which could rupture a blood vessel, but no matter what the suspected cause, this must be reported to a physician.
Hemoptysis can be subdivided into mild or massive but classifying it would be difficult as the volume of blood loss is hard to accurately quantify.
Mild Hemoptysis
If the amount of blood in the sputum is only small, the spitting of blood is considered mild. In about 60% to 70% of cases of mild hemoptysis, the primary cause is benign and disappears by itself without leaving any severe damages or permanent problems. Mild hemoptysis can also result significant breathing problems, and is likely to occur irregularly and reappear at irregular intervals thus there is no way to predetermine the patient’s chances of having massive hemoptysis. To prevent more serious progressions of the condition, diagnosis and treatment must be initiated as soon as possible.
Massive Hemoptysis
In situations where too much blood disrupts the normal breathing process, usually above 200 to 240 millimeters in 24 hours, hemoptysis is classified under the massive or major type. When hemoptysis becomes massive, the patient is in a medical emergency, with mortality rate as high as 75 percent. Majority of the individuals with massive hemoptysis die due to asphyxiation secondary to excessive blood obstructing the respiratory air passages.
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Blood in Mucus Causes
Hemoptysis can be due to one of these medical conditions, many of which are very serious and life-threatening:
- Pulmonary embolus or blood clot in the lung
- Breathing blood into the lungs
- Bronchoscopy with biopsy
- Bronchiectasis
- Certain bronchial tumors
- Acute or Chronic Bronchitis
- Lung cancer, which includes non-small cell lung carcinoma and small cell lung carcinoma
- Cystic fibrosis
- Idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis
- Inflammation of the blood vessels in the lung
- Increased pressure in the blood vessels of the lungs due to left ventricular failure and mitral stenosis
- Trauma to the arteries of the lungs
- Inhalation of foreign bodies
- Inflammation and Irritation of the throat from violent, repeated coughing
- Pneumonia or other lung infections
- Pulmonary edema
- Bleeding disorders
- Goodpasture’s syndrome
- Wegener’s granulomatosis
- Drug-induced, such as over-anticoagulation from treatment by drugs such as warfarin
- Systemic lupus erythematosus
- Tuberculosis, most common cause of hemoptysis worldwide
- Vascular malformations
Blood in Mucus Symptoms
If a patient exhibits hemoptysis, he could be suffering from one of many different underlying disorders, ranging from a mild bronchial infection to cancer. The symptom of hemoptysis can also depend on the origin of the condition as well. On top of the coughing up of blood and depending to what has caused the bloody sputum, the following symptoms may also be noticed;
- Chest pain
- Shortness of breath, even at rest
- Hyperthermia
- Nausea and vomiting
- Rapid breathing
- Cough
- Weight loss
- Chills
- Night sweats and excessive perspiration
Many are uncertain if the coughed up blood is from the respiratory tract or from anywhere else. When blood comes from the outside of the respiratory tract, this is called pseudohemoptysis. And one type of this condition is what we know medically as hematemesis. Hemoptysis and hematemesis or the vomiting up of blood are two different things, in terms of the prognosis and the treatment of choice. Differentiating the two are integral part of the diagnosis.
A patient with hemoptysis may have signs which include:
- Cough
- Bright red blood
- Liquid or clotted, frothy-appearing blood
On the other hand, a patient suffering from hematemesis may exhibit signs including:
- History of too much alcohol use or
- History of liver disease
- Nausea or vomiting
- Brown or black blood
- Blood which appears like coffee grounds
- Dark-colored, tar-like stools or melena
Blood in Mucus Treatment
The management for hemoptysis will also be based largely on its original cause and how much blood the patient has been coughing up.. There are many treatment modalities available which can be used such as application of an iced saline and the administration of vasoconstrictors such as adrenalin and vasopressin in topical forms. Because bleeding is possible during bronchoscopy, laser photocoagulation can be performed in order to stop the bleeding. Lungs can be collapse when there is hemorrhage by selective bronchial intubation and endobrachial tamponade. The last option is surgery, which may include lobectomy or pneumonectomy.
