Pulmonary endometriosis

Jill P. Karpel, J P Karpel, D Appel, David Appel, A Merav, Avraham D. Merav
Lung · 1985 · vol. 163(1) , pp. 151–159 · doi:10.1007/bf02713817 · PMID:2931558 · W3188943605
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06+body, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This review and case series examines pulmonary endometriosis, detailing its varied manifestations like nodules, pneumothorax, hemothorax, and hemoptysis, and discussing diagnostic and treatment approaches.

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⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-10 · read from full text ⓘ

This paper reviews 84 published English-language cases of pulmonary endometriosis and reports 3 additional patients, describing how the disorder can present as asymptomatic pulmonary nodules or catamenial pulmonary events such as pneumothorax, hemothorax, or hemoptysis. Across cases, right-sided predominance was noted for catamenial pneumothorax and hemothorax, while catamenial hemoptysis occurred in multiparous women without pelvic endometriosis; tissue diagnosis was infrequent with pleuroscopy/bronchoscopy, whereas thoracotomy or laparotomy was more likely to obtain endometrial tissue. The authors report that hormonal suppression and pleurodesis often corrected disease, but not all interventions were curative (e.g., thoracotomy/laparotomy for hemothorax), with one success using pleurectomy. Limitations include reliance on literature case reports and incomplete capture of diagnostic and treatment details. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it specifically reviews and characterizes pulmonary endometriosis presentations and management outcomes.

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Abstract

Pulmonary endometriosis is manifested as either asymptomatic pulmonary nodules or as pneumothorax, hemothorax, or hemoptysis during menses. We review 84 cases of pulmonary endometriosis in the English literature and report 3 additional patients. One of our patients is the first reported to have hemoneumothorax. Catamenial pneumothorax usually involved the right chest, and occurred in young nulliparous women without pelvic endometrosis. Pleuroscopy, laparoscopy with pneumoperitoneum, and thoracotomy produced a tissue diagnosis infrequently. Hormonal suppression of ovulation and pleurodesis usually corrected this disorder. Catamenial hemothorax only affected the right chest, but occurred in older multiparous women with pelvic endometriosis. While thoracotomy or laparotomy produced a tissue diagnosis, these procedures were not curative. In contrast, our patient with this disorder was treated successfully with pleurectomy. Catamenial hemoptysis occurred in multiparous women without pelvic endometriosis. Bronchoscopy localized bleeding but never produced a tissue diagnosis. Thoracotomy produced endometrial tissue. Endometrial pulmonary nodules require a diagnosis but do not otherwise produce problems. Similar content being viewed by others

References

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Lung Diseases Adult Endometriosis Female Hemoptysis Hemoptysis Hemothorax Hemothorax Humans Laparoscopy Lung Diseases Menstrual Cycle Pneumothorax Pneumothorax

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