Premenstrual inguinal swelling and pain caused by endometriosis in the Bartholin gland: a case report

Endometriosis is a pathological condition characterized by the presence of endometrial tissue outside the endometrium. The authors describe a case of endometriosis in the Bartholin gland, which was initially diagnosed as a Bartholin gland cyst. The correct diagnosis was later made on the basis of the patient history and the results of the ultrasound examination. Endometriosis in the Bartholin gland should be considered in the presence of dyspareunia, cyclic swelling and pain at the vulvar level, and characteristic ultrasound findings. Riassunto L’endometriosi è una condizione patologica caratterizzata dalla presenza di tessuto endometriale al di fuori dell’endometrio. Presentiamo un caso di endometriosi di ghiandola del Bartolino, diagnosticata inizialmente come tumefazione cistica della ghiandola del Bartolino e successivamente correttamente inquadrata grazie all’interpolazione dei dati anamnestici con le caratteristiche ecografiche. Questo caso evidenzia come sia lecito sospettare un’endometriosi della ghiandola del Bartolino nei casi di dispareunia, ciclica tumefazione e dolore vulvare, associati ai reperti ecografici.

Cattaneo L (1986) Compendio di anatomia umana, 2nd edn, Monduzzi Editore s.p.a., via Ferrarese 119/2, Bologna, pp 495–517 Abulafia O, Sherer DM (1997) Bartholin gland abscess: sonographic findings. J Clin Ultrasound 25(1):47–49 Buda A, Ferrari L, Marra C, Passoni P, Perego P, Milani R (2008) Vulvar endometriosis in surgical scar after excision of the Bartholin gland: report of a case. Arch Gynecol Obstet 277(3):255–256 Epub 2007 Sep 12 Matseoane S, Harris T, Moscowitz E (1987) Isolated endometriosis in a Bartholin gland. N Y State J Med 87(10):575–576 Gocmen A, Inaloz HS, Sari I, Inaloz SS (2004) Endometriosis in the Bartholin gland. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 114(1):110–111 Eppel W, Frigo P, Worda C, Bettelheim D (2000) Ultrasound imaging of Bartholin’s cysts. Gynecol Obstet Invest 49(3):179–182 Conflict of interest Guido Robotti, Elena Canepari, Mario Torresi declare that they have no conflict of interest. Informed consent All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 (5). All subjects provided written informed consent to enrolment in the study and to the inclusion in this article of information that could potentially lead to their identification. Author information Authors and Affiliations Corresponding author Rights and permissions About this article Cite this article Robotti, G., Canepari, E. & Torresi, M. Premenstrual inguinal swelling and pain caused by endometriosis in the Bartholin gland: a case report. J Ultrasound 18, 71–72 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40477-014-0076-7 Received: Accepted: Published: Issue date: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40477-014-0076-7