BACKGROUND:Different embolic materials can be used for bronchial artery embolization in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis hemoptysis. Sodium alginate microspheres and gelatin sponge are two commonly used materials; however, there are relatively few related reports about the comparative analysis on the application effect of these two materials. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the clinical efficacy of sodium alginate microspheres for bronchial artery embolization on pulmonary tuberculosis hemoptysis. METHODS:Totaly 157 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis hemoptysis, including 98 male and 59 female patients, aged 22-75 years, were enroled and subjected to bronchial artery embolization using different embolic materials: sodium alginate microspheres group (n=74) and gelatin sponge group (n=83). During the 12 months of folow-up, the clinical curative effect, recurrence and complications condition of these two groups were observed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The total effective rates of sodium alginate microspheres and gelatin sponge groups were respectively 91.19% and 81.93%, and there was a significant difference between groups (P < 0.05). The recurrence rates of sodium alginate microspheres and gelatin sponge groups were respectively 6.8% and 26.5%, and there was a significant difference between groups (P < 0.05). Additionaly, there was no significant difference in the complications between groups (P > 0.05). These results demonstrate that sodium alginate microspheres for bronchial artery embolization has a better result in the clinical treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis hemoptysis with a high clinicaly effective rate and low recurrence rate.