Heat Sensation in the Chest and Strong Malaise Successfully Treated with Shishikankyoto / 日本東洋医学雑誌

ABSTRACT

Kampo medicine containing Gardeniae Fractus is often used for agony of the chest, but there are few case reports about shishikankyoto. Here, we report a case of a 73-year-old woman with heat sensation in the chest and severe malaise successfully treated with shishikankyoto. She suffered from lung cancer five years previously, and received chemoradiation treatment. One year later, radiation pneumonitis developed, which was resolved naturally. After another year, she began to develop a slight fever, burning sensation and general malaise, which disappeared and recurred in cycles of about six months. She received Kampo medicine treatment for one year at another hospital, but lacked in improvement and was introduced to our hospital. We thought her symptoms were caused by deficiency heat pattern in the chest and cold in the epigastric region. By giving shishikankyoto in reference to a sentence in the Shang Hang Lun, her symptoms improved in about two weeks. Although, shishikankyoto is a prescription medicine with few reports, it is effective in a short period of time and is useful for similar symptoms.