An unusual case of endometriosis, a female disease, was noted by Chinese doctors. A 29-year-old woman came to one of the clinics, coughing blood during her menstruation. Initially, it was thought that he was suffering from tuberculosis, writes the European Journal of Medical Research.
Endometriosis is caused by the lining of the womb growing beyond the womb to other parts of the body. Most often, its foci are located on the ovaries and other organs of the smaller pelvis. Sometimes, however, they appear in the lungs and even in the brain.
Chinese doctors prescribed antibiotics to the woman who was coughing up blood. She felt better, her discomfort subsided, but after four weeks she started coughing blood again. Doctors referred her to a clinic in Shanghai. After listening to the left lung, the doctors there sensed disturbing murmurs. X-ray examination showed that there is some kind of inflammatory lesion in the lung.
The interview showed that the patient coughs blood regularly once a month. It usually lasts for a few days and then she no longer feels any discomfort. The cough only came when she was menstruating.
During the next menstruation, she was examined with a computer tomograph. It was confirmed that there was a disturbing thickening and inflammation in the upper lobe of the left lung. But it was still unclear what that change was. A decision was made to perform bronchoscopy – an endoscope with a mini-camera was inserted through her mouth, allowing for direct examination of the respiratory tract.
No bacteria were found, ultimately convincing the doctors that the woman did not suffer from tuberculosis, but a form of endometriosis whose outbreaks spread beyond the uterine cavity to the lungs.
The coughing of blood was caused by the fact that the endometrial tissue therein responds to changes in the level of sex hormones (similar to the actual endometrium) during each cycle. This results in oral bleeding during menstruation as well as adhesions and chronic inflammation.
Fortunately, it is a rare form of endometriosis. The endometrial tissue most often travels to the abdominal cavity or around the bladder.
One of the treatment methods is hormone therapy. However, the Chinese woman did not want to give up due to possible side effects. Therefore, after a year, she returned to the clinic with an even more severe disease.
Doctors then decided to operate on her. Two lesions were removed from the left lung, both 2 cm in diameter. She has since stopped coughing blood during monthly magazines. Two years after the operation, the endometriosis did not recur. (PAP)