pulmonary disorders
Diffuse Alveolar Hemorrhage
Key Points
Although diffuse alveolar hemorrhage can have various causes (eg, infection, toxins, drugs, hematologic or cardiac disorders), autoimmune disorders are the most common causes. Symptoms, signs, and chest-x-ray findings are not specific. Confirm diffuse alveolar hemorrhage by doing bronchoalveolar lavage to show persistent hemorrhage with sequential lavage samples. Test for the cause by doing routine laboratory tests, autoantibody testing, and sometimes other tests. Treat the cause (eg, with corticosteroids,cyclophosphamide,rituximab, plasma exchange). 