Spiral Computerized Tomography and Video Thoracoscopy in Catamenial Pneumothorax

Kalapura, Thomachan MD
Okadigwe, Chukuma MD
Fuchs, Yael MD
Veloudios, Alice MD
Lombardo, Gerard MD

From the Departments of Internal Medicine (tk), Cardiothoracic Surgery (co), Obstetrics and Gynecology (yf), Diagnostic Radiology (av), and Pulmonary Medicine (gl), The New York Methodist Hospital, Brooklyn, New York.

This paper was presented in part at the 1997 Annual Scientific Session of the New York Chapter of the American College of Physicians and won the Honorable Mention award in the clinical vignette section.

Submitted March 29, 1999; accepted in revised form August 10, 1999.

Correspondence: Thomachan Kalapura, M.D., 121 Betz Avenue, Jefferson, LA 70121 (E-mail: [email protected]).

American Journal of the Medical Sciences 319(3):p 186-188, March 2000.

Catamenial pneumothorax is a rare disease that is usually diagnosed on clinical grounds. Delay in diagnosis can lead to considerable morbidity. We describe a case in which spiral CT scan and videothoracoscopy led to early objective diagnosis and management.