Figure 1
X-ray chest showing left pneumothorax
Catamenial pneumothorax
Catamenial pneumothorax: A rare diagnosis
SectionChest imaging
Case TypeClinical Cases
AuthorsSanjeet Kumar Shah1, Mahesh Chaudhary2, Sharzia Asma–Ul Hosna3 Md. Delwar Hossain4, Manabendra Biswas5
Connected authors
34 years, female
Clinical History
A 34-year-old female patient presented with sudden onset of shortness of breath and left-sided chest pain for 2 days. She had a history of multiple episodes of similar symptoms every 30-40 days for the past 4 years and it was always followed by menstruation. A chest radiograph was performed.
Imaging Findings
The frontal chest radiograph revealed a left-sided pneumothorax for which Tube-thoracostomy was done. A previous radiograph showed a dense homogeneous opacity in the right middle and lower zone obliterating the right heart border and right dome of the diaphragm suggesting right-sided pleural effusion with chest tube drain in situ.
Discussion
Catamenial pneumothorax (CP) is defined as recurrent pneumothorax (at least two episodes) occurring between the day before and within 72 hours after the onset of menstruation. It may affect up to one-third of women with spontaneous pneumothoraces [1]. It is encountered in 3-6% of spontaneous pneumothorax cases among menstruating women [2]. There is right side preponderance [3, 4, 5]. It usually involves the right side (85-95%) and can be left-sided or bilateral [2]. It is associated with diaphragmatic perforations and/or thoracic endometriosis [2].
Thoracic endometriosis syndrome (TES) is the presence of endometrial tissue in or around the lung. Although endometriosis in general can affect up to 15% of women in their reproductive years, TES remains an exceedingly rare condition [6, 7].
TES occurs almost exclusively in the right hemithorax (approximately 95% of cases) [8, 9]. Although congenital diaphragmatic hernias are far more common on the left side, congenital diaphragmatic defects, particularly fenestrations, are known to occur more commonly on the right, leading to the right-sided predominance of TES [10].
CP is responsible for only 2.5% to 5% of cases of women with spontaneous pneumothorax [11, 12] even though it accounts for 73% of the cases of TES [6]. The first case of CP was described by Maurer et al. [13] in 1958, but the term catamenial pneumothorax was not introduced until 1972. [14] CP is typically defined as spontaneous and recurrent pneumothorax occurring within 72 hours from the onset of menstruation. [8, 11] According to Karpel et al, [15] the number of recurrent pneumothoraces can range from 2 to 42 per patient.
Three theories have developed to explain this entity. The first is transdiaphragmatic passage, or movement, of air from the vagina to the peritoneum via the fallopian tubes, and subsequently to the thorax via diaphragmatic fenestrations. This is thought to occur during the menstrual cycle when the cervical mucus plug is absent. [5, 7, 13]. The
second is air leakage triggered by sloughing of the endometrial implants located on the pleura. [5, 7] The third proposes a hormonally mediated mechanism in which high levels of prostaglandin from thoracic endometrial implants cause vascular and bronchiolar vasoconstriction, leading to ischaemic injury and ultimately causing alveolar rupture and
subsequent air leakage. [5] Another theory that has been proposed as a cause of catamenial pneumothorax is the spontaneous ruptures of blebs.
Teaching points
Whenever a female patient in the reproductive age group present with chest pain or recurrent pneumothorax; it's worthwhile to record an elaborated mensuration history and evaluate for catamenial pneumothorax.
Thoracic endometriosis syndrome (TES) is the presence of endometrial tissue in or around the lung. Although endometriosis in general can affect up to 15% of women in their reproductive years, TES remains an exceedingly rare condition [6, 7].
TES occurs almost exclusively in the right hemithorax (approximately 95% of cases) [8, 9]. Although congenital diaphragmatic hernias are far more common on the left side, congenital diaphragmatic defects, particularly fenestrations, are known to occur more commonly on the right, leading to the right-sided predominance of TES [10].
CP is responsible for only 2.5% to 5% of cases of women with spontaneous pneumothorax [11, 12] even though it accounts for 73% of the cases of TES [6]. The first case of CP was described by Maurer et al. [13] in 1958, but the term catamenial pneumothorax was not introduced until 1972. [14] CP is typically defined as spontaneous and recurrent pneumothorax occurring within 72 hours from the onset of menstruation. [8, 11] According to Karpel et al, [15] the number of recurrent pneumothoraces can range from 2 to 42 per patient.
Three theories have developed to explain this entity. The first is transdiaphragmatic passage, or movement, of air from the vagina to the peritoneum via the fallopian tubes, and subsequently to the thorax via diaphragmatic fenestrations. This is thought to occur during the menstrual cycle when the cervical mucus plug is absent. [5, 7, 13]. The
second is air leakage triggered by sloughing of the endometrial implants located on the pleura. [5, 7] The third proposes a hormonally mediated mechanism in which high levels of prostaglandin from thoracic endometrial implants cause vascular and bronchiolar vasoconstriction, leading to ischaemic injury and ultimately causing alveolar rupture and
subsequent air leakage. [5] Another theory that has been proposed as a cause of catamenial pneumothorax is the spontaneous ruptures of blebs.
Teaching points
Whenever a female patient in the reproductive age group present with chest pain or recurrent pneumothorax; it's worthwhile to record an elaborated mensuration history and evaluate for catamenial pneumothorax.
Differential Diagnosis List
Catamenial pneumothorax
Primary spontaneous pneumothorax
Iatrogenic pneumothorax
Final Diagnosis
Catamenial pneumothorax
References
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[3] Visouli AN, Darwiche K, Mpakas A et-al (2013) Catamenial pneumothorax: a rare entity? Report of 5 cases and review of the literature. J Thorac Dis 4 Suppl 1: 17-31 (PMID: 23304438)
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[6] Vinatier D, Orazi G, Cosson M, Dufour P (2001) Theories of endometriosis. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol May;96(1):21–34 (PMID: 11311757)
[7] Alifano M, Trisolini R, Cancellieri A, Regnard JF (2006) Thoracic endometriosis: current knowledge. Ann Thorac Surg 81(2):761–9 (PMID: 16427904)
[8] Joseph J, Sahn SA (1996) Thoracic endometriosis syndrome: new observations from an analysis of 110 cases. Am J Med 100(2):164–70 (PMID: 8629650)
[9] Channabasavaiah AD, Joseph JV (2010) Thoracic endometriosis: revisiting the association between clinical presentation and thoracic pathology based on thoracoscopic findings in 110 patients. Medicine (Baltimore) 89(3):183–8. (PMID: 20453605)
[10] Papafragaki D, Concannon L (2008) Catamenial pneumothorax: a case report and review of the literature. J Womens Health (Larchmt) 17(3):367–72 (PMID: 18328011)
[11] Alifano M, Roth T, Broët SC, Schussler O, Magdeleinat P, Regnard JF (2003) Catamenial pneumothorax: a prospective study. Chest 124(3):1004–8 (PMID: 12970030)
[12] Shearin RP, Hepper NG, Payne WS (1974) Recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax concurrent with menses. Mayo Clin Proc 49(2):98–101 (PMID: 4812822)
[13] Maurer ER, Schaal JA, Mendez FL (1958) Jr Chronic recurring spontaneous pneumothorax due to endometriosis of the diaphragm. J Am Med Assoc 168(15):2013-4 (PMID: 13598643)
[14] Lillington GA, Mitchell SP, Wood GA. Catamenial pneumothorax (1972) Catamenial pneumothorax. JAMA 219(10):1328–32 (PMID: 5066776)
[15] Karpel JP, Appel D, Merav A (1985) Pulmonary endometriosis. Lung 163(3):151–9 (PMID: 2931558)
Case information
| URL: | https://eurorad.org/case/14432 |
| DOI: | 10.1594/EURORAD/CASE.14432 |
| ISSN: | 1563-4086 |
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X-ray chest showing left pneumothorax
Catamenial pneumothorax
Department of Radiology & Imaging
Department of Radiology & Imaging