title: Long-term outcomes of the bronchial artery embolization are diagnosis dependent.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Bronchial artery embolization (BAE) is an established, safe, and effective procedure for the treatment of hemoptysis but long-term outcomes of the BAE have never been investigated before.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To retrospectively analyze long-term outcomes of the BAE.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective chart analysis was done from the hospital central database for all patients undergoing the BAE over a consecutive 14-year period (January 2000-February 2014). A total of 58 patients were identified from the database. Eight patients were excluded due to the lack of follow-up. Data such as patient demographics, reason for hemoptysis, medical imaging results, bronchoscopy findings, recurrence rates, and morbidity/mortality rates after the BAE were collected.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighty three embolizations were performed in 50 patients. The median follow-up was of 2.2 years. Cystic fibrosis (CF) bronchiectasis was the most common etiology (21/50), followed by non-CF bronchiectasis (9/50). Cavitary lung disease occurred in 12/50 patients, an additional 4/50 had cancer (primary lung and metastatic), and one patient had antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) vasculitis. In three patients the etiology was unknown. Postprocedural complications occurred in 5/83 (6%) patients, two patients with two major complications - stroke (one) and paraplegia (one) - and three patients with minor complications - chest pain (two) and bronchial artery dissection (one). A total of 15/50 patients died during the follow-up. Three patients died of hemoptysis, and the remaining deaths were unrelated to the procedure or hemoptysis. Twenty four patients had recurrent hemoptysis. A Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed an excellent long-term survival that was 85% at 10 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The BAE is a safe and effective procedure with excellent overall long-term survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Vikas
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pathak
authors.affiliation: Department of Interventional Radiology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Stavas
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Hubert J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Charles A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Austin
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Aris
keywords: Bronchial artery embolization; cavitary lung disease; cystic fibrosis; hemoptysis