Canadian Respiratory Journal

Copyright © 2007 Hindawi Publishing Corporation. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Hemoptysis or pneumothorax that recurs with the onset of menses is strongly suggestive of thoracic endometriosis syndrome (TES). TES is a rare disorder, with relatively few cases reported in the literature. A 32-year-old woman with cystic fibrosis, who over a period of several months had experienced recurrent catamenial hemoptysis and pneumothoraces, including an episode of life-threatening hemoptysis that coincided with menstruation, is presented. Thoracic computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans, as well as a bronchosopic evaluation that demonstrated endobronchial lesions that disappeared after menses, support the diagnosis of TES in the present patient. The patient was treated empirically with danazol and subsequently underwent a successful double-lung transplantation. Danazol was discontinued postoperatively, and she was started on an oral contraceptive. Eighteen months post-transplant, she has not experienced a recurrence of her catamenial symptoms, despite having resumed a regular menstrual cycle.