[Spontaneous pneumothorax in women].

Among cases of spontaneous pneumothorax, female cases are extremely rare. They represent only about 10% of observed cases and form a special clinical type. The authors discuss 20 cases out of a total of 261 cases of pneumothorax observed over a period of 7 years. A certain number of facts were noted which distinguished the female forms from the male forms of this disease. Although there is no difference in the symptoms, the disease tends to occur later in women, in the fourth decade of life, and only three of the 20 cases in this series were idiopathic. On the other hand, among the secondary cases, the frequency of E.N.T. or respiratory disease is remarkable for it concerned 75% of cases. None of the cases observed responded to the usual criteria of menstrual pneumothorax although seven occurred during the menstrual period. However the forms which relapse during the periods should lead to a search for pelvic endometriosis. Finally the proportion of rib malformations is not negligible. These facts emphasise that pneumothorax in women, contrary to men, appears much more as a complication of another disease than as an autonomous pleural disease.