Catamenial Appendicitis

Breton F Barrier, Shellaine R Frazier, Lisa M Brennaman, Jessica C Taylor, Bruce J Ramshaw, Bruce Ramshaw
Obstetrics and gynecology · 2008 · vol. 111(2) , pp. 558–561 · doi:10.1097/01.aog.0000286770.79766.95 · PMID:18239022 · W4253197183
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

Three women with recurrent appendicitis-like symptoms coinciding with menses showed symptom resolution after appendectomy, revealing increased mast cells in the muscularis and proposing the term "catamenial appendicitis."

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Reproductive-aged women undergoing appendectomy for suspected appendicitis have twice the rate of negative histology as age-matched men. The reason for this discrepancy is unknown. CASES: Three patients with peritoneal endometriosis and recurrent symptoms of acute appendicitis coincident with menses underwent resection of a noninflamed appendix with long-term symptom resolution. Standard pathological evaluation failed to demonstrate evidence of appendiceal endometriosis or appendicitis. Additional evaluation demonstrated a marked increase in number of mast cells in the appendiceal muscularis compared with normal appendices. CONCLUSION: The term "catamenial appendicitis" has been coined to describe these cases, and a mechanism of pathogenesis of right lower quadrant pain and nausea in patients with histologically confirmed endometriosis is proposed.

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Abdominal Pain Abdominal Pain Appendectomy Appendix Endometriosis Peritoneal Diseases Abdominal Pain Adolescent Adult Appendix Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Humans Peritoneal Diseases Peritoneal Diseases

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (7)

Cited by (6)

Source provenance

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