A Case of Beh\ccet's Disease Successfully Treated with Keishibukuryogan, Whose Liver Damage Was Caused by Orengedokuto / 日本東洋医学雑誌

ABSTRACT

We present the case of 65 year-old male with Behçet's disease who was successfully treated with the Kampo medicine keishibukuryogan. The patient presented with hyperemic conjunctiva, ocular pain and uveitis at the age of 38, and was diagnosed with Behçet's disease. One year later he was affected with ulcerative glossitis, which was also diagnosed as a manifestation of Behçet's disease. At the age of 56 he was presented with acute arthritis of his ankle joint, followed by ulcerative stomatitis and glossitis. He was treated with colchicine and cyclophosphamide. Thereafter, he suffered from recurrent oral aphthous ulcers, and arthritis. Intractable oral ulcers, which did not respond to Western medicine, led him to seek Oriental herbal remedies. Keishibukuryogan was prescribed and, since then, his oral ulcers have completely subsided and his arthritis has not been a problem. He has been relieved from all manifestations of Behçet's disease.Thus, we believe that the Kampo medicine keishibukuryogan should be taken into consideration when treating Behçet's disease.Moreover, liver dysfunction caused by the Kampo medicine orengedokuto arose at an early stage of therapy, but immediately disappeared when its use was stopped. Pharmacoepidemiologically, Scutellariae radix, an ingredient of orengedokuto, was suspected of causing this liver dysfunction.