Hemoptysis during pregnancy: a comprehensive review of literature and an unprecedented case report of oropharyngeal carcinoma

Abstract

Objectives: Hemoptysis in pregnancy is a very rare finding causing diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties. The case report of hemoptysis by a 29 years old patient in the 31st week of pregnancy is presented and discussed along with the diagnostic process and treatment provided. Upon pharyngeal cancer occurrence in a pregnant patient a multidisciplinary medical team performed appropriate treatment along with delivery of a healthy newborn at term. Patients and fetal conditions and outcomes were analyzed and compared to available literature in this newly created literature review. Material and methods: After MEDLINE database analysis using formula“hemoptysis” AND “pregnancy” more than 125 re-suits were found published during the period 2002-2022. Almost 30 papers about hemoptysis were found and included for full analysis. Results: The review of literature revealed 32 cases of patients with hemoptysis during pregnancy. The two most common causes were vascular abnormalities and neoplastic tumors. The treatment comprised of chemotherapy and surgical pro-cedures during the pregnancy or after delivery. Almost 35% of pregnancies ended prematurely. The conducted research did not provide a description of any other case of pharyngeal cancer during pregnancy. Conclusions: The literature review offers a detailed description of previously reported incidents of hemoptysis in preg-nancy to gain understanding of the etiology, differential diagnosis, available treatment and predicted future outcomes for both patient and fetus.