Abstract
Case 1. A 48-year-old woman who had been taking some Chinese herbal medicine for atopic dermatitis for 20 years presented with the chief complaints of abdominal pain and vomiting. Abdominal plain XR and CT showed dendritic calcification near the right colon. Colonoscopy showed bronze appearance and swelling of the mucosa throughout the colon, mainly around the right colon, with ulceration and lumen narrowing. Case 2. A 65-year-old woman who had been taking some herbal medicine for menopausal symptoms for about 15 years presented with the chief complaint of abdominal pain. Abdominal plain XR and CT showed dendritic calcification near the right colon. Colonoscopy showed a slight bronze appearance and edema of the mucosa in the right colon. Both the patients were diagnosed as having idiopathic mesenteric phlebosclerosis by histology. Case 1 underwent surgery at 3 months after presentation due to repeated episodes of bowel obstruction. Case 2 remains under observation because her only symptom is mild abdominal pain. Idiopathic mesenteric phlebosclerosis is a rare disease of unknown cause. One report suggests long-term use of herbal medicines as one of the potential causes. Since both our patients gave a history of long-term use of herbal medicines, we considered it as one possible causes of the condition in our patients.
