Successful conservative treatment of catamenial pneumothorax with GnRH agonist

Abstract

A thirty four year old woman with recurrent catamenial pneumothorax is described. Pleural endometriosis was suspected and cytologic examination of fluid drained from the right pleural cavity showed glandular cell clusters of probable endometrial origin. The patient received a long-acting GnRH agonist (Triptorelin-Arvekap-Ipsen) 3.75 mg/month I.M. for nine months and remains asymptomatic with regular periods 12 months after discontinuing the treatment.

Bilateral pleural endometriosis

“…Medical therapy should be considered as the first line of treatment 21 . Current medical treatment regimens include danazol 21,22 or GnRH agonists 23–25 . However, the recurrence of hemothorax following hormonal therapy is well documented 2,26 , 27 .…”