TY - JOUR T1 - Haemoptysis: a frequent diagnostic challenge JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 348 LP - 350 DO - 10.1183/13993003.01344-2015 VL - 47 IS - 1 AU - Michele Mondoni AU - Giuseppe Francesco Sferrazza Papa AU - Giovanni Sotgiu AU - Paolo Carlucci AU - Giulia Michela Pellegrino AU - Stefano Centanni Y1 - 2016/01/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/47/1/348.abstract N2 - We read with interest the article by Abdulmalak et al. [1] recently published in the European Respiratory Journal. The authors reported the results of an observational, retrospective, 5-year, nationwide, multicentre study based on the medical information collected from a French database. The epidemiology of haemoptysis was evaluated through the hospital discharge diagnosis codes, focusing on incidence, aetiology, seasonal distribution, relapses and mortality in a 3-year follow-up analysis. The authors made a great effort to provide findings on the largest national cohort of hospitalised patients with haemoptysis (∼15 000 per year) and update the current epidemiological understanding of this frequent symptom in high-income countries. However, some of the results described in the manuscript deserve a more detailed analysis and careful interpretation.Haemoptysis is a frequent symptom, and the definition of aetiologies and a diagnostic pathway are often challenging http://ow.ly/U0f2X ER -