title: Lymphangioleiomyomatosis suspected to be a gynecologic disease.
abstract: Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare, systemic disorder that predominantly affects women. Although patients with LAM mostly present with pulmonary symptoms, some patients may present initially with extrapulmonary symptoms. We present a case of a 30-year-old Japanese female with abdominal pain during menstrual periods was suspected of having ovarian cancer due to exaggerated ascites observed at a local clinic. Subsequently, she was transferred to our hospital for further investigations, and was diagnosed with LAM. Three years after diagnosis, she had a girl by cesarean section to avoid the progression of pulmonary LAM by vaginal delivery. The patient is undergoing follow-up treatment with the administration of gonadotropin-releasing hormone-analog. Though LAM is rare, gynecologists should know about it because it may occur with gynecological symptoms in young women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma, Japan. soichi.y@nifty.ne.jp
authors.forename: Soichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Kazuto
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Hiromitsu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shinozaki
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Minegishi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002915:Chylous Ascites; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D018192:Lymphangioleiomyomatosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms; D010388:Pelvis / Q000473:pathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed