Alveolar Hemorrhage Following Thrombolytic Therapy for Acute Myocardial Infarction: Two Case Reports and Literature Review

Abstract

Imtinene Ben Mrad,1 Melek Ben Mrad,2 Zeineb Oumaya,1 Ihsen Zairi,1 Boutheina Besbes,1 Khalil Ouaghlani,1 Sofien kamoun,1 Sobhi Mleyhi,2 Rim Miri,2 khadija Mzoughi,1 Sondos Kraiem1 1Cardiology Department, Habib Thameur Hospital, Tunis, Tunisia; 2Cardiovascular Surgery Department, Rabta Hospital, Tunis, TunisiaCorrespondence: Imtinene Ben MradCardiology Department, Habib Thameur Hospital, App 2b, Bloc 12, cite Olympique, Tunis, 1003, TunisiaTel +011 216 20156852Email [email protected]: Alveolar hemorrhage (AH) is a heterogeneous clinical syndrome with a high mortality rate, characterized by extensive bleeding into the alveolar spaces. AH secondary to systemic thrombolysis treatment in the setting of acute myocardial infarction is an uncommon complication, but potentially fatal and can lead to acute respiratory failure. This entity is rarely reported in the literature. We report two cases of acute AH after intravenous thrombolysis for acute myocardial infarction, which could contribute to the literature on the subject, and discuss the risk factors as well as the clinical and radiological findings supporting the diagnosis. We overview also the rare previous published case reports in this context, and we contrast our findings with those reported in the literature.Keywords: hemoptysis, alveolar hemorrhage, myocardial infarction, fibrinolytic therapy, streptokinase

Keywords

• hemoptysis
• alveolar hemorrhage
• myocardial infarction
• fibrinolytic therapy
• streptokinase