# man coughs up perfect cast of bronchial tree
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-coughs-up-perfect-cast-of-bronchial-tree/825729
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [December 7, 2018, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-coughs-up-perfect-cast-of-bronchial-tree/825729 "2018-12-07T03:11:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2018, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-coughs-up-perfect-cast-of-bronchial-tree/825729/21 "2018-12-07T14:25:51Z")
> [@ivylass](#):
>
> How much of medicine is “Let me help you” vs “Ew, that’s so gross/cool, I need to write a paper about it?”
I work in a medical library, going on 10 years, and going by what I’ve seen thumbing through the books and journals, pretty much _all of it_.
ETA: not that they’re mutually exclusive. “Let me help you” obviously is the primary concern in most cases, but “I should write this up” seems to always be a thought running in the background. There’s someone, somewhere researching pretty much anything and everything at all times.
---
### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-coughs-up-perfect-cast-of-bronchial-tree/825729/22 "2018-12-07T15:02:34Z")
Either they’re writing up weird cases or they’re inviting in their colleagues and med students to see them.
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### Author:  [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2018, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-coughs-up-perfect-cast-of-bronchial-tree/825729/23 "2018-12-07T15:32:28Z")
oh just gross, oh just too much to think about…not touching the link but I am very curious of what it looks like, but ewww.☹
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### Author:  [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2018, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-coughs-up-perfect-cast-of-bronchial-tree/825729/24 "2018-12-07T15:42:47Z")
If medical professionals did not research and publicize weird cases, we wouldn’t have Dr. Lisa (the real-life Dr House) and her colleagues.
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2018, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-coughs-up-perfect-cast-of-bronchial-tree/825729/25 "2018-12-07T15:47:27Z")
Ah, blood clot art. Fascinating, and sad.
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2018, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-coughs-up-perfect-cast-of-bronchial-tree/825729/26 "2018-12-07T16:05:24Z")
> [@WildBlueYonder](#):
>
> oh just gross, oh just too much to think about…not touching the link but I am very curious of what it looks like, but ewww.☹
It looks just like half of this, but _very_ red, and not drawn (link is an illustration).
[ ](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/79/5b/85/795b85a8d55ccde67f270d08abbbc052.jpg)
Personally I don’t find it disgusting at all, but I see gross medical stuff all the time. We always warn the new employees, “Whatever you do, do NOT thumb through the dermatology books. Trust me.”
.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-coughs-up-perfect-cast-of-bronchial-tree/825729/27 "2018-12-07T16:20:43Z")
> [@DPRK](#):
>
> If medical professionals did not research and publicize weird cases, we wouldn’t have Dr. Lisa (the real-life Dr House) and her colleagues.
[Dr Lisa Sanders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Sanders), who has a regular [column in the New York Times Magazine](https://www.nytimes.com/search?query=Diagnosis). I look forward to reading it each week. And yes, that column inspired the TV show House, MD.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-coughs-up-perfect-cast-of-bronchial-tree/825729/28 "2018-12-07T16:38:13Z")
I’d be more impressed by “man coughs up cast of _Perfect Strangers_.”
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2018, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-coughs-up-perfect-cast-of-bronchial-tree/825729/29 "2018-12-07T16:55:58Z")
It’s quite possible the coughed-up bloot clot also contained mucoid and cellular elements and had begun to organize (i.e. with ingrowth of fibroblasts and small blood vessels), explaining why it held together while being expelled.\*
While people don’t “cough up a lung”, it’s possible to cough hard enough to herniate out a segment of lung between your ribs (do not try this at home).
_“The woman’s lung tissue slipped through the space between two of her ribs – the ninth intercostal space, to be exact. It’s actually somewhat similar to a NEJM case study from last month, in which a woman’s body “swallowed” one of her breast implants while she was doing Pilates – in that case, the woman’s implant slipped between two of her ribs and was sent into her pleural cavity, or the space between her lungs. (Maybe those two should form a support group.)”_
> **[Woman coughed out a lung, new case study says](https://www.nbcnews.com/healthmain/woman-coughed-out-lung-new-case-study-says-1C6436935)**
\*one hopes this specimen was preserved for future study by eager med students.
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2018, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-coughs-up-perfect-cast-of-bronchial-tree/825729/30 "2018-12-07T17:01:08Z")
> [@kayaker](#):
>
> I’d be more impressed by “man coughs up cast of _Perfect Strangers_.”
Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2018, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-coughs-up-perfect-cast-of-bronchial-tree/825729/31 "2018-12-07T17:08:22Z")
Mine are usually more greenish.
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2018, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-coughs-up-perfect-cast-of-bronchial-tree/825729/32 "2018-12-07T18:05:00Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#):
>
> Mine are usually more greenish.
TMI.😉
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### Author:  [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2018, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-coughs-up-perfect-cast-of-bronchial-tree/825729/33 "2018-12-07T18:23:19Z")
I would have to think that one reason it maintained its shape so well is because it did some serious damage on its way up.
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### Author:  [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2018, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-coughs-up-perfect-cast-of-bronchial-tree/825729/34 "2018-12-07T19:58:48Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> It’s quite possible the coughed-up bloot clot also contained mucoid and cellular elements and had begun to organize (i.e. with ingrowth of fibroblasts and small blood vessels), explaining why it held together while being expelled.\*
>
> While people don’t “cough up a lung”, it’s possible to cough hard enough to herniate out a segment of lung between your ribs (do not try this at home).
>
> _“The woman’s lung tissue slipped through the space between two of her ribs – the ninth intercostal space, to be exact. It’s actually somewhat similar to a NEJM case study from last month, in which a woman’s body “swallowed” one of her breast implants while she was doing Pilates – in that case, the woman’s implant slipped between two of her ribs and was sent into her pleural cavity, or the space between her lungs. (Maybe those two should form a support group.)”_
>
> [Woman coughed out a lung, new case study says](https://www.nbcnews.com/healthmain/woman-coughed-out-lung-new-case-study-says-1C6436935)
>
> \*one hopes this specimen was preserved for future study by eager med students.
I’ve coughed enough (pneumonia) to injure my ribs. I had no idea you could also end up pinching your lungs. Good to know.
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2018, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-coughs-up-perfect-cast-of-bronchial-tree/825729/35 "2018-12-07T20:47:19Z")
I guess I am not understanding. Was that a picture of the guys actual bronchial tree or something that was inside his bronchial tree? And how was it a solid thing? Amazing to know the human body can do these things.
Oh, and Sunny I knew someone who cracked their neck coughing. It was an actual fracture. She, too had pneumonia.
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2018, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-coughs-up-perfect-cast-of-bronchial-tree/825729/36 "2018-12-07T20:55:01Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#):
>
> I guess I am not understanding. Was that a picture of the guys actual bronchial tree or something that was inside his bronchial tree? And how was it a solid thing?
Blood filled that much of his lung and congealed, like Jell-O in a mold; violent coughing knocked it loose, up his trachea and out of his mouth. I’m certain it was every bit as unpleasant as it sounds and more.
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### Author:  [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2018, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-coughs-up-perfect-cast-of-bronchial-tree/825729/37 "2018-12-07T21:16:36Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#):
>
> Ah, blood clot art. Fascinating, and sad.
I find it very upsetting that you instantly recognize this as a thing.
Regards,
Shodan
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2018, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-coughs-up-perfect-cast-of-bronchial-tree/825729/38 "2018-12-07T23:44:07Z")
> [@DCnDC](#):
>
> Blood filled that much of his lung and congealed, like Jell-O in a mold; violent coughing knocked it loose, up his trachea and out of his mouth. I’m certain it was every bit as unpleasant as it sounds and more.
Ugh. Gross me out the back door. Poor man.
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2018, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-coughs-up-perfect-cast-of-bronchial-tree/825729/39 "2018-12-08T02:43:54Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#):
>
> Ugh. Gross me out the back door. Poor man.
Life ain’t pretty. It’s fortunate that we can get somewhat desensitized to it, or we could never cope. But get too desensitized, and we lose our empathy for suffering.
_Who the fuck came up with this whole life thing, anyway_??? :mad:
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### Author:  [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2018, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-coughs-up-perfect-cast-of-bronchial-tree/825729/40 "2018-12-08T04:21:46Z")
I didn’t click the article in the OP, because I didn’t want to see the picture. But it happened to turn up in my Facebook feed.
Though I’ve seen worse pictures in my feed, and I actually found it kind of fascinating - I’d just as rather not see it again.
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