A retrospective analysis of 108 patients admitted to the hospital for hemoptysis in the year 2000 was performed. The aim of the study was to clarify the etiologic distribution of hemoptysis and the relation of etiology to the severity and recurrence of it. Of the cases, 79 were men and 29 were women, and the mean age was 51.74 +/- 17.51. In 77 of the cases it was the first attack, while in 31 it was recurrent. According to the severity of hemoptysis, it was classified as "mild" (<30 cm3), "moderate" (30-100 cm3), "severe" (100-600 cm3) and "massive" (>600 cm3). Lung cancer was the leading cause of hemoptysis (34.3%) followed by bronchiectasis (25.0%), tuberculosis (17.6%), pneumonia (10.2%) and pulmonary embolism (4.6%). Statistical analysis by chi-square test revealed that most of the lung cancer patients had mild hemoptysis (odds ratio 3.5; P<0.05), and the most frequent etiology in recurrent hemoptysis was bronchiectasis (odds ratio 3.25; P=0.01). Most of the lung cancer patients were male (P=0.002). The two leading causes of hemoptysis in our study are similar to many previous reports. The high rate of tuberculosis in our study is probably due to the high prevalence of tuberculosis in our country.