Clinical Assessment of Fourteen Cases of Thoracic Endometriosis

: We retrospectively assessed the clinical and pathological features of 14 patients with thoracic endometriosis who were treated at our hospital from 2007 to 2017. Thirteen patients presented pneumothorax and 1 patient presented bloody sputum. All were treated surgically. Pneumothorax occurs on the right side in all 13 cases and bloody sputum was from left side lesion. Ten patients presented symptoms closely related with their menstrual cycle (days -2 to 5). At surgery, dark red or dark brown spots, small hiatus and scar-like findings on the surface of the visceral pleura or diaphragm were identified in all cases. Pathological or immunohistochemical examinations of diaphragm or lung tissue specimens revealed endometrial tissue in 6 cases of pneumothorax and a case of bloody sputum. Nine patients received hormonal therapy(8:pneumothorax, 1:bloody sputum). Pleurodesis was performed for 1 pneumothorax patient with recurrent pneumothorax after hormonal therapy. In case of young female with repeated pneumothorax, catamenial pneumothorax must be kept in mind as a differential diagnosis and appropriate timing for surgical treatment should be considered to establish pathologically correct diagnosis.