A case report of thoracic endometriosis - A rare cause of haemothorax

Lina Pankratjevaite; Diana Samiatina-Morkuniene

doi:10.1016/j.ijscr.2017.02.052

A case report of thoracic endometriosis - A rare cause of haemothorax

Int J Surg Case Rep. 2017:33:139-142. doi: 10.1016/j.ijscr.2017.02.052. Epub 2017 Mar 4.

Authors

Lina Pankratjevaite¹, Diana Samiatina-Morkuniene²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Surgery, Medical Academy, Hospital of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania.
² Department of Thoracic Surgery, Medical Academy, Hospital of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania. Electronic address: dsamiatina@yahoo.de.

Abstract

Introduction: The presence of endometrial tissue in airways, pleura and lung parenchyma is called thoracic endometriosis syndrome (TES). It is a rare pathology, and typically consists of catamenial pneumothorax, haemothorax, haemoptysis, and pulmonary nodules. We report a case of a 36-year-old woman with thoracic endometriosis causing catamenial haemothorax.

Conclusions: The diagnosis of thoracic endometriosis is complicated and often delayed. TES should be suspected in a reproductive age woman with exacerbating symptoms during the menstruation. Treatment may be medical and surgical.

Keywords: Case report; Catamenial haemothorax; Pleural effusion; Thoracic endometriosis syndrome.