A Case of Acute Phlegmonous Gastritis Diagnosed with Endoscopic Submucosal Biopsy and Bacterial Culture and Improved by Antibiotics Treatment

Phlegmonous gastritis is a rare disease of acute suppurative inflammation in the stomach wall. It is rapidly progressive and potentially fatal. Its mortality rate remains very high because the clinical diagnosis is often delayed. Many patients with phlegmonous gastritis undergo surgery. We present the case of 63-year-old woman with epigastric pain, fever, nausea and vomiting. The presumed diagnosis of acute phlegmonous gastritis was made by esophagogastroduodenoscopy, abdominal computed tomography, endoscopic ultrasonography and deep submucosal biopsy assisted with hook knife. Acinetobacter baumannii was cultured in the aspiration from the stomach. We treated the patient with antibiotics alone. Early recognition of phlegmonous gastritis by endoscopic biopsies and bacteriological study may improve the prognosis of these patient.

A Case of Mitochondrial Myopathy With Cardiac Involvement

Mitochondrial myopathy is a disease caused by structural, biochemical or genetic disturbance of the mitochondria and this affects many organs, and it may also involve the cardiac muscles. We experienced a case of myocardial involvement in a 21 years old male patient with mitochondrial myopathy.

A Case of Hypermagnesemia with Cardio-respiratory Failure in a Patient with Chronic Renal Failure / 대한신장학회지

A 46-year-old woman with chronic renal failure due to polyarteritis nodosa was referred to the hospital for evaluation of abdominal pain. She had been treated with cathartics (magnesium oxidate 2.0 g/day) for constipation for several days. One day before the admission, the patient had been taken magnesium enema twice at another hospital. On admission, she was comatose, suffering from lethargy and respiratory failure. Her serum magnesium and amylase concentrations were markedly elevated (8.2 mg/dL and 1,698 IU/L respectively), and plain abdominal image and abdominal computed tomography revealed acute pancreatitis and non-obstuctive ileus. Thereafter, aggressive cardiopulomonary support with mechanical ventilation and continuous renal replacement therapy using continuous veno-venous hemofiltration (CVVH) applied due to cardio-respiratory failure and hypermagnesemia. After 3 days of CVVH treatment, the concentration of serum magnesium was normalized to 3.2 mg/dL, and respiratory failure and abdominal ileus were markedly improved. Four days after aggressive treatment, her hemodynamic and gastroenteric symptoms stabilized. Therefore, we report the case of hypermagnesemia with acute pancreatitis, severe hypotension and respiratory failure after cathartic ingestion and enema containing magnesium oxidate treated with CVVH.

A Case of Renal Infarction associated with Protein C and S Deficiency / 대한신장학회잡지

Renal infarction usually occurs in patients with atrial fibrillation, valvular heart disease, trauma, renal artery stenosis, atherosclerosis, vasculitis, and hypercoagulable state. Protein C or S deficiency is an uncommon condition among hypercoagulable states and manifests deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary thromboembolism, cerebrovascular accident. In this report, we present a case of renal infarction occurred in 36-year-old male without underlying diseases except a family history of thromboembolism. He was admitted to our hospital due to an abrupt and continuous left flank pain. He had no previous history of an arterial or venous thrombosis. Tomography and renal angiography showed a left renal artery occlusion. He was treated with heparin and warfarin therapy. In laboratory tests, Protein C antigen level and protein S activity was 51.80% (72-160%) and 48% (65-140%). Thus, we concluded that renal infarction was secondary to combined type 1 protein C deficiency and type 2 protein S deficiency.

Chinese Herbs Induced End-Stage Renal Disease in a Patient with Minimal Change Nephrotic Syndrome / 대한신장학회잡지

An outbreak of rapidly progressive renal failure was observed in Belgium in 1993 and was related to a slimming regimen involving Chinese herbs. Extensive interstitial fibrosis with atrophy and tubular loss was the major histological lesion. Aristolochic acid has been suspected to be responsible for nephrotoxicity. The use of Chinese herbal medicines is very popular in Korea. We report the presence of a nephrotoxic compound in herb medications, which led to end-stage renal failure in a patient with complete remission state of minimal change disease. The typical and sequential pathologic changes in our patient following the consumption of herbs suggest possible relationship to herbal medicines, and end-stage renal disease, despite the fact that a cause-and-effect relationship cannot be automatically inferred.