Can patients with heart disease undergo bronchoscopy?
Disease description:
I have a history of chronic heart disease, but I recently developed some respiratory issues and need to undergo a bronchoscopy. I would like to ask the doctor whether patients with heart disease can undergo bronchoscopy.
Doctor's answer (1)
Dr. Tian Hongbo
Bronchoscopy is an endoscopic technique used for the diagnosis and treatment of respiratory diseases. Whether patients with heart disease can undergo bronchoscopy mainly depends on the severity of their cardiac condition.
If a patient's heart disease is stable and there are no severe complications, bronchoscopy is generally safe under appropriate cardiovascular monitoring. However, if the patient has severe heart disease, especially conditions such as malignant arrhythmias or severe myocardial ischemia, bronchoscopy may significantly increase the risk of cardiac events, and is therefore generally not recommended. In such cases, it may be necessary to first manage or improve the cardiac condition, or consider alternative diagnostic methods.
Thus, the decision on whether heart disease patients can undergo bronchoscopy should be made based on a comprehensive evaluation of the patient's cardiac function, and it is recommended to proceed under a physician's guidance.
