Abstract
A 40-year-old woman, who attended our hospital in 2007, was diagnosed with idiopathic mesenteric phlebosclerosis (IMP) after stool abnormalities and a positive fecal occult blood test. Since 2000, she had been taking several Chinese herbal medicines, mainly orengedokuto and ryutansyakakuto, for the treatment of atopic dermatitis. After the initial diagnosis, we performed yearly examinations, including a colonoscopy, on the patient. Calcifications along the mesenteric vein on the right side of the colon, as detected by computed tomography (CT), progressed rapidly until 2009, when the patient was hospitalized due to an ileus associated with IMP. Since 2009, when the patient discontinued taking Chinese herbal medicine, her IMP steadily and markedly improved according to subsequent clinical examinations, and endoscopic and histologic findings; however, according to CT, calcifications along the mesenteric vein remained unchanged. This is a case report of improved IMP after the discontinuance of Chinese herbal medicine, with a long-term observation period of seven years after onset. This report is important in highlighting the association between the pathogenesis of IMP and Chinese herbal medicine.
