An Uncommon Presentation: Diffuse Alveolar Hemorrhage Associated with Solid Organ Tumor-Case Report

Hemoptysis as a presenting complaint in a patient is treated as an emergency and it warrants meticulous evaluation for confirming diagnosis and timely treatment. It can occur due to a myriad of causes and needs urgent diagnostic confirmation and timely treatment to prevent mortality and morbidity. The cause of DAH (diffuse alveolar hemorrhage) can be multiple including autoimmune and connective tissue diseases, infections, toxins, and rarely malignancies. However, solid organ malignancy presenting as DAH has rarely been reported in literature. We present a rare case of a young male who presented with DAH and was later diagnosed as a case of pancreatic adenocarcinoma and managed at our center with corticosteroids to good clinical recovery. DAH is a potentially life-threatening condition. It can cause acute respiratory failure with bilateral alveolar infiltrates. Hemoptysis may be absent in 33% of patients. Although solid malignancy is a rare etiology of DAH, it is imperative to perform bronchoscopy in such cases to confirm the diagnosis and rule out other etiologies.