Thoracic Endometriosis: A Review Comparing 480 Patients Based on Catamenial and Noncatamenial Symptoms

This review aimed to categorize thoracic endometriosis syndrome (TES) according to whether the presenting symptoms were catamenial and to evaluate whether such a categorization enables a better management strategy. An electronic search was conducted using the PubMed/Medline database. The following keywords were used in combination with the Boolean operators AND OR: “thoracic endometriosis syndrome,” “thoracic endometriosis,” “diaphragm endometriosis,” and “catamenial pneumothorax.” The initial search yielded 445 articles. Articles in non-English languages, those whose full texts were unavailable, and those that did not present the symptomatology clearly were further excluded. After these exclusions, the review included 240 articles and 480 patients: 61 patients in the noncatamenial group and 419 patients in the catamenial group. The groups differed significantly in presenting symptoms, surgical treatment techniques, and observed localization of endometriotic loci (p