[Catamenial pneumothorax under video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery: a case report]

A 46-year-old woman complained four times of chest pains due to repeated right pneumothorax. This was improved by the right thoracic drainage each time. She was diagnosed as having catamenial pneumothorax from the fact that each episode of pneumothorax began with the first day of her menstrual cycle. She was admitted to our hospital in Jan. 1996 and operated on by the obliteration of pleuro-peritoneal fistulas on right diaphragm under video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). No other abnormal lesions were found in the right pleural cavity and right lung. In this case, the pathophysiological mechanisms of pneumothorax might have been caused by the air influx from the peritoneal cavity to the right pleural cavity through the fistulas on the right diaphragm. VATS is minimally invasive surgery and very useful for the treatment of pleuro-peritoneal fistulas on the diaphragm. It should be emphasized that hormonal therapy is necessary after VATS of catamenial pneumothorax.