Is lung endometriosis a rare disease?
National Institutes of Health Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) characterizes a rare or orphan disease as a disease or condition that affects fewer than 200,000 persons. So yes it is rare, but lung endometriosis leading to Catamenial pneumothorax is under recognized and under diagnosed. The first reported cased of this disease were in the 1930’s. I have received over 40 letters from women around the world in a one-year period with lung endometriosis and none of the women including myself are written up in the literature. So a definite calculation of worldwide numbers is currently unknown. Author: Living With Lung and Colon Endometriosis: Catamenial Pneumothorax http://www.catamenialpneumothorax.org/History.
