Catamenial pneumothorax with bubbling up on the diaphragmatic defects: a case report

Catamenial pneumothorax is characterized by spontaneous recurring pneumothorax during menstruation, which is a common clinical manifestation of thoracic endometriosis syndrome. There are still controversies about its pathogenesis.

A 43-year-old woman with a history of endometriosis came to our hospital due to recurring pneumothorax during menstruation. Uniportal Video-assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS) exploration was performed on the eve of menstruating. We thoroughly explored the diaphragm, visceral and parietal pleura: The lung surface was scattered with yellowish-brown implants; no bullae were found; multiple diaphragmatic defects were found on the dome. And surprisingly, we caught a fascinating phenomenon: Bubbles were slipping into pleural cavity through diaphragmatic defects. We excised the diaphragmatic lesions and wedge resected the right upper lung lesion; cleared the deposits and flushed the thoracic cavity with pure iodophor. Diaphragmatic lesions confirmed the presence of endometriosis, and interestingly enough, microscopically, endometrial cells were shedding with impending menses. After a series of intraoperative operations and postoperative endocrine therapy, the disease did not recur after a period of follow-up.

We have witnessed the typical signs of catamenial pneumothorax at the accurate timing: Not only observed the process of gas migration macroscopically, but also obtained pathological evidence of diaphragmatic periodic perforation microscopically, which is especially precious and confirms the existing theory that retrograde menstruation leads to diaphragmatic endometriosis, and the diaphragmatic fenestration is obtained due to the periodic activities of ectopic endometrium.