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1: Asian Cardiovasc Thorac Ann. 2005 Sep;13(3):271-3.Click here to read Links

A very rare entity: catamenial pneumothorax.

Poyraz AS, Kilic D, Hatipoglu A, Demirhan BA.

Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Baskent University, Konya, Turkey. ahmetserhanpoyraz@hotmail.com

Catamenial pneumothorax, a variant of spontaneous pneumothorax occurs exclusively in women of menstrual age. Catamenial pneumothorax is associated with a high rate of recurrence. The etiology and pathogenesis is enigmatic. We describe the case of a 42-year-old woman with right-sided catamenial pneumothorax recurring four times, caused by ectopic endometriosis in the pleural layers which was confirmed histopathologically. Surgical treatment should be accomplished during menstruation for optimal visualization of pleurodiaphragmatic endometriosis.

PMID: 16113003 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]