RESUMEN
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Complementary medicines, including herbal preparations and nutritional supplements, are widely used without prescriptions. As a result, there has been growing interest in the risk of hepatotoxicity with these agents. It is difficult to determine causal relationships between these herbal preparations and hepatotoxicity. We report on 25 patients diagnosed with toxic hepatitis following ingestion of Polygonum multiflorum Thunb. METHODS: Twenty-five patients (median age, 48 years [24 to 65 years]; M:F=18:7) with suspected P. multiflorum Thunb-induced liver injury were admitted to our hospital between 2007 and 2009. We analyzed clinical and histological data, including the types and the duration of P. multiflorum Thunb intake and the duration of hospital care. We also determined the type of liver injury using the R ratio (serum activity of ALT/serum activity of ALP). RESULTS: The types of complementary medicine used included tea (n=16), liquor (n=5), tea and liquor (n=2), powder (n=1), and honeyed pudding (n=1). The most common presenting sign was jaundice (76%), and 18 patients (72%) had evidence of hepatocellular liver injury. Histological findings were consistent with acute hepatitis in all cases (n=10) for which liver biopsy was performed. Twenty-three patients (91.6%) recovered with conservative management, 1 patient (4%) had a liver transplant, and 1 patient (4%) died of hepatic failure. CONCLUSIONS: In our cases, we found that P. multiflorum Thunb could be hepatotoxic and could lead to severe drug-induced liver injury, and even death.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Various disorders can be developed in the esophagus. However, esophagus has been less well focused than other gastrointestinal (GI) tracts since the esophageal disorders are relatively uncommon. There has been no report on the prevalence of overall esophageal disorders in Korea. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of esophageal disorders in health examinee. METHODS: We reviewed retrospectively the endoscopic reports of 6,683 subjects who underwent upper GI endoscopy for screening purpose at Gyeongsang National University Hospital from March, 2005 to May, 2006. RESULTS: Among 6,683 health examinee, 1,154 (17.26%) had esophageal diseases. Gastro-esophageal reflux diseases (GERD) were the most common diseases (14.66%). The prevalence of erosive reflux esophagitis, minor change esophagitis, and Barrett's esophagus was 8.45%, 5.01% and 1.12%, respectively. Hiatal hernia and esophageal submucosal tumor were 2nd and 3rd common diseases (2.0% and 0.6%, respectively). A variety of other esophageal disorders were seen as well. The esophageal disorders with over 0.1% of prevalence were esophageal varices (0.37%), esophageal squamous papilloma (0.31%), esophageal candidiasis (0.25%), nonspecific esophagitis (0.16%), heterotopic gastric mucosa (0.16%), and esophageal vascular ectasia (0.12%) in order. CONCLUSIONS: The overall prevalence of esophageal disorders among health examinee was 17.3%. The GERD was the main esophageal disease and a variety of esophageal diseases were identified. The endoscopists need to take an interest in the esophageal disorders and a community-oriented well organized study should be warranted.