Catamenial Pneumothorax

Excerpt

A 46-year-old woman presented with 3 days of dyspnea and right-sided pleuritic chest pain. She mentioned seven prior episodes of mild shortness of breath and right-sided pleuritic chest pain occurring within 48 hours of menstruation onset. Physical examination revealed tachypnea and decreased lung sounds on the right, with hyper-resonance on percussion. Chest radiograph showed a collapsed right lung (Fig. 1). Laboratory tests revealed high levels of cancer antigen-125, suggesting endometriosis. Thoracoscopy showed multiple diaphragmatic blueberry spots at the periphery of the central tendon’s right leaflet (Fig. 2). The patient was diagnosed with catamenial pneumothorax. She underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery and hormonal therapy with danazol. After 5 years, there has been no clinical evidence of recurrence.

…