A 39 years old woman with thoracic endometriosis presents with recurrent catamenial Pneumothorax: A case report

Armin Amirian, Seyed Mehdi Ghazanfari, Parviz Mardani, Samane Gorjizade, Mana Moghadami
International journal of surgery case reports · 2025 · vol. 135(C) , pp. 111903 · doi:10.1016/j.ijscr.2025.111903 · PMID:40939468 · PMC12496495 · W4414080949
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This case report details a 39-year-old woman with recurrent pneumothorax, where VATS revealed thoracic endometriosis and led to surgical intervention and hormonal therapy.

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Abstract

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: Recurrent catamenial pneumothorax (RCP) is an infrequent medical condition predominantly affecting women of reproductive age. It is characterized by the repeated occurrence of pneumothorax, resulting in either partial or complete lung collapse due to air or gas in the pleural cavity. The distinctive feature of this condition is its association with the menstrual cycle, with symptoms typically manifesting within 72 h following the onset of menstruation. While catamenial pneumothorax is recognized as the most prevalent form of thoracic endometriosis syndrome, recurrent catamenial pneumothorax remains uncommon and lacks comprehensive characterization in the medical literature. Consequently, the understanding of this condition's underlying mechanisms and contributing factors is limited. CASE PRESENTATION: The present report describes a thirty-nine-year-old woman with recurrent pneumothorax. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) with pleurodesis reveals diffuse parietal pleura and diaphragm inflammation. Notably, red nodules and pores were observed in the central region of the right hemidiaphragm, providing compelling evidence supporting thoracic endometriosis and catamenial pneumothorax as the underlying cause. A pneumonolysis, wedge resection, partial pleurectomy, and pleural abrasion were performed, followed by applying a mesh graft to the diaphragm. After surgery, the patient was referred for hormonal therapy and remained symptom-free during follow-up visits. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: This case highlights the importance of recognizing catamenial pneumothorax. For treatment, both surgical intervention and hormonal therapy are essential. CONCLUSION: RCP should be considered as one of the differential diagnoses in reproductive-aged women presenting with repeated spontaneous pneumothorax, particularly during menstrual periods.

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Condition tags

endometriosisthoracic_endometriosis

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (24)

SciLite annotations

organisms 9
noordeloos 2009062 noordeloos 2009062 noordeloos 2009062 noordeloos 2009062 noordeloos 2009062 noordeloos 2009062 noordeloos 2009062 noordeloos 2009062 noordeloos 2009062
chemicals 3
prostaglandin estrogen alcohol

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