Are you aware Catamenial Pneumothorax has been added to the rare disease list at the NIH?
Spontaneous pneumothorax (SPT) is a well known condition among physicians. Air enters the pleural space around the lung, and causes the lung to collapse. What makes it spontaneous is that the collapse can occur without warning in a person who appears healthy, “the lung collapses for no apparent reason”. Medically, this may be due to the rupture of “blebs”, which are blister-like appendages on the lung. Blebs and bullae are generally confirmed through surgery. SPT primarily affects tall thin men in their 20’s and 30’s. Women can also experience SPT, but statistically, it is rare. As such, it is not unreasonable to speculate that some women diagnosed with or treated for spontaneous pneumothorax, may actually have catamenial pneumothorax (CPT), which is not spontaneous at all! This is especially true for women who have had multiple collapses. CPT, Catamenial pneumothorax is a rare condition characterized by a reoccurrence of air in the pleural space coinciding with the onset of menses. CP
