[A case of catamenial pneumothorax due to diaphragmatic endometriosis confirmed by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery].

Abstract

We describe a case of catamenial pneumothorax caused by diaphragmatic endometriosis and histologically confirmed thoracoscopically. The patient was a 33-year-old woman who had had recurrent right chest pain starting on the day preceding each menstruation since she was 26 years of age. In June 2001, at the age of 33, she felt right chest pain and developed dyspnea, and so came to our hospital. Chest radiography showed bilateral pneumothorax. Timely thoracoscopy revealed the characteristic appearances of catamenial pneumothorax such as a blueberry spot on the central tendon of the right diaphragm and a purplish-red locus in the right apex. Histopathological examination further confirmed the presence of endometrial tissue on the diaphragm as well as in the lesion of the right lung. Despite resection of the endometrial tissues from the right hemidiaphragm and the lung under thoracoscopy, right pneumothorax recurred after one month. Since then, the patient's condition has been well controlled by therapy with gonadotropin releasing hormone, with no recurrence of catamenial pneumothorax.

• Authors: Susumu Sakamoto, Kazuma Kishi, Sakae Homma, Masateru Kawabata, Eiyasu Tsuboi, Koji Narui, Tatsuo Nakatani, Tadasu Kono, Noriko Motoi, Koichiro Nakata, Kunihiko Yoshimura
• Journal: Nihon Kokyuki Gakkai zasshi = the journal of the Japanese Respiratory Society (Nihon Kokyuki Gakkai Zasshi) Vol. 41 Issue 12 Pg. 911-6 (Dec 2003) ISSN: 1343-3490 [Print] Japan
• PMID: 14727555 (Publication Type: Case Reports, English Abstract, Journal Article, Review)

Topics

• Adult
• Diaphragm (pathology)
• Endometriosis (complications, diagnosis, surgery)
• Female
• Humans
• Menstruation
• Pneumothorax (etiology)
• Recurrence
• Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted