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Query: UMLS:C0000737 (abdominal pain)
 31,184 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We report on a series of three patients with an unusual syndrome of eosinophilia and myalgia associated with the oral ingestion of tryptophan that was recognized in New Mexico in October 1989. All three patients, who were women 37 to 44 years of age, had severe muscle pain, muscle weakness, mouth ulcers, and striking eosinophilia (more than 8 X 10(9) cells per liter). Other manifestations included fever, abdominal pain, dyspnea, skin rash, and elevated serum concentrations of aminotransferase and aldolase. The women had been taking tryptophan in doses of 1.2 to 2.4 g a day for three weeks to 2 1/2 years. The discontinuation of tryptophan and the initiation of glucocorticoid treatment resulted in improvement, but all three women were still symptomatic three to five months later. Tests for trichinosis and other parasites and for allergic and connective-tissues disorders were negative, and serum immunoglobulin concentrations and erythrocyte sedimentation rates were normal. A muscle biopsy in one patient and biopsies of the vagina, liver, and other abdominal organs in another revealed eosinophilic infiltration, as well as the extracellular deposition of eosinophil-granule major basic protein. All three patients had elevated serum and urinary levels of this protein and eosinophil-derived neurotoxin, indicative of eosinophil degranulation. The syndrome of eosinophilia and myalgia in association with the ingestion of tryptophan that was seen in these three patients is a newly recognized adverse effect of tryptophan ingestion. Our identification of this association in these patients led to the discovery of an epidemic of what is now called the eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome.
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PMID:Association of the eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome with the ingestion of tryptophan. 231 25

The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinicopathological spectrum of eosinophilic gastroenteritis and identify possible difficulties in establishing the diagnosis. All patients with a diagnosis of eosinophilic gastroenteritis, defined by the presence of gastrointestinal symptoms and eosinophilic infiltration of the gut (38), or a radiological diagnosis with peripheral eosinophilia (two), were identified from the Mayo Clinic records; in none was there evidence of extraintestinal disease. Patients were divided into three groups according to the Klein classification: predominant mucosal (23), muscular (12), or subserosal disease (five). A fourth group of patients (10) for comparison had abdominal symptoms and unexplained peripheral eosinophilia but no proven eosinophilic infiltration of the gut. It was found that a history of allergy was reported by 20 of 40 patients with eosinophilic gastroenteritis. Peripheral eosinophilia was absent in nine of 40. The patients with subserosal disease were distinct from the other groups in presentation (abdominal bloating, ascites), higher eosinophil counts and in their dramatic responses to steroid therapy. Otherwise the patients were similar regarding demographic factors, presenting symptoms (abdominal pain, nausea, weight loss, diarrhoea), and laboratory parameters. The ESR was moderately raised in 10 of 40 patients. The disease may affect any area of the gastrointestinal tract; eosinophilic infiltration was documented in the oesophagus in one patient and in the colon in two cases. Endoscopic biopsies missed the diagnosis in five of 40 presumably because of patchy disease. Eosinophilic gastroenteritis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of unexplained gastrointestinal symptoms even in the absence of peripheral eosinophilia.
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PMID:Eosinophilic gastroenteritis: a clinicopathological study of patients with disease of the mucosa, muscle layer, and subserosal tissues. 231 32

Clinical and laboratory findings of 123 paediatric patients with infections due to intestinal protozoa were analysed. Dientamoeba fragilis (D.f.) was found in 102 cases. The other patients had infections with Giardia lamblia or mixed infections with several other protozoa. Acute and recurrent diarrhoea were the most common findings (56 cases), whereas abdominal pain was more common in children with chronic symptoms. Peripheral eosinophilia was present in 32% of the children with dientamoebiasis. Metronidazole, oxytetracycline, doxycycline, and erythromycin were the most effective drugs in the treatment of D.f. infections. The therapy led coincidentally to the sanitation of stools and elimination of abdominal complaints. The investigations underline the pathogenic role of D.f. in those children with gastrointestinal symptoms. Mixed infections of D.f. and Enterobius vermicularis suggest a vector bound transmission of D.f.
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PMID:Dientamoeba fragilis infection, a cause of gastrointestinal symptoms in childhood. 232 52

Three Cysticercus bovis cysts were ingested voluntarily and the prepatent period was found to be 84 days. Observation on the frequency of proglottid apolysis for 26 days revealed a total of 85 segments with or without faeces. Abdominal pain began one month before the prepatent period. Nausea, headache, and disturbed sleep became apparent only after the end of the prepatent period. During the segment shedding period, a 10.5% increase in eosinophilia and a 13.0% increase in lymphocytes were observed. A count of eggs in 20 gravid segments revealed an average of 89,000 eggs per segment. Treatment using praziquantel a single dosage of 10 mg/kg body weight expelled the worm including the scolex.
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PMID:Observations on self-induced Taenia saginata infection. 236 38

After the evaluation of 129 serum samples of persons who had ingested boar sausage infested by Trichinella spiralis, 48 individuals (40 adults and 8 children) with a mean age of 38.8 years were diagnosed of trichinosis. The incubation time was 17 days (range 2 to 44 days). The following clinical features were outstanding: facial and eyelid edema (50%), diffuse limb myalgia (43%), fever (37%), conjunctivitis (25%), headache (16%), and abdominal pain (16%). Remarkably, 33% of the diagnosed patients were asymptomatic. The diagnosis was made by an indirect immunofluorescence technique (IIF), which was considered as positive when the titer was higher than 1/20 after considering seroconversion at the beginning of the disease and after 4-6 weeks. Among laboratory abnormalities there was leukocytosis in 15 patients and eosinophilia in 37. The GOT, GPT and CPK enzymes were only slightly increased in a small proportion of patients (8, 10, and 31%, respectively). Forty patients were treated with thiabendazole, associated or not to corticosteroids, which was well tolerated. Eight patients were not treated. One year after the diagnosis a new laboratory control was undertaken in 43 patients (all asymptomatic). Eosinophilia was still present in 12, and the titers against Trichinella were high in all. However, the percentage of the titer was smaller than at the beginning of the outbreak.
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PMID:[Trichinosis: new epidemic outbreak caused by the ingestion of wild-boar sausage]. 249 Aug 58

During 1983, a multinational military intervention took place on Grenada. After deployment, troops from several U.S. Army units noted signs and symptoms consistent with soil-transmitted helminthic infection. Of 684 soldiers screened five to seven weeks post-deployment, over 20% reported abdominal pain and/or diarrhea during or after the action. Eosinophilia of at least 10% was observed in 119 (22.5%) of 529 soldiers evaluated further; eosinophilia of 5-9% was documented in another 126 (23.8%) of the 529 soldiers. Stool examinations confirmed hookworm infection in 35 soldiers. One case of strongyloidiasis was also documented. Infection was attributed to ground exposure near homes with compromised sanitation. Units that joined the operation after the initial assault phase were at low risk of hookworm infection.
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PMID:An outbreak of hookworm infection associated with military operations in Grenada. 249 77

A case of severe sulfasalazine-induced hepatotoxicity is reported in a 14-year-old girl with Crohn's disease. Fourteen days after beginning sulfasalazine, she developed a systemic reaction characterized by high fever, maculopapular rash, lymphadenopathy, abdominal pain, and malaise, with tender hepatomegaly and elevated liver functions, leukemoid reaction, with eosinophilia, and immune complexes. She responded promptly to high-dose intravenous steroids with complete recovery. This case was compared to the three similar pediatric cases in the literature. The latent period was 11-19 days between sulfasalazine therapy and the onset of high fever, generalized lymphadenopathy, and pruritic maculopapular rash that spared palms and soles and resolved with desquamation. All children had hepatotoxicity indicated by tender hepatomegaly, elevated liver enzymes, and histologic inflammation on liver biopsy. The similarity between these features and those of other sulfa-induced hepatotoxic reactions suggests that the sulfapyridine moiety is the etiologic agent in these hypersensitivity reactions. Those children with circulating immune complexes responded well to steroids. Proper therapy for this rare but severe idiosyncratic reaction includes prompt recognition and discontinuation of sulfasalazine, and high-dose corticosteroid therapy.
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PMID:Sulfasalazine-induced hepatotoxicity in children with inflammatory bowel disease. 256 69

A large number of drugs may be associated with impaired bile flow. Drug-associated cholestasis presents like other forms of cholestasis with pale stools, dark urine, pruritus and jaundice. Abdominal pain may be present in some instances and can be so severe as to lead to a false diagnosis of acute cholecystitis. Biochemically, drug-associated cholestasis resembles other forms of cholestasis although the presence of eosinophilia may suggest drug involvement. Many types of drug-induced cholestasis run a benign course with resolution of signs and symptoms within 3 months but occasionally the jaundice can take a year or more to resolve. Progression to cirrhosis is uncommon. Some patients may develop a syndrome resembling primary biliary cirrhosis. The mechanisms of drug-associated cholestasis are uncertain but may arise from alteration of bile formation within the hepatocyte or bile excretion at the level of the canaliculus or the extrahepatic ducts. Histological examination of the liver may be helpful in classifying the types of jaundice but the diagnosis of drug-induced cholestasis is usually one of temporal association and exclusion of other causes.
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PMID:Drug-induced jaundice. 265 64

In conclusion, the most important task in evaluating an immigrant or traveler with abdominal pain is to consider the myriad tropical diseases that mimic common western conditions. A careful history may point to antecedent symptoms and a time course that are incompatible with typical appendicitis, biliary colic, or bowel obstruction, but physical examination is generally not specific enough to differentiate between tropical and ordinary abdominal crises. Blood work for eosinophilia and a rapid examination of the stools by an experienced technician may indicate a need for judicious delay in exploratory laparotomy. In this interval, imaging studies, serologic tests, and therapeutic drug trials may clarify the diagnosis.
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PMID:Tropical medicine and the acute abdomen. 266 58

The first case of not imported dicroceliasis in Czechoslovakia is reported in an eleven-year-old boy. The patient suffered from gastrointestinal complaints for about half a year. Diarrhea frequently alternated with constipation, the abdominal pain was mainly in the region of the pancreas. With the exception of eosinophilia (16%), all other laboratory findings (blood count, ELFO, urinalysis) were within normal values. Eggs of Dicrocoelium dendriticum were repeatedly found in stool specimens. The patient was successfully treated with Bithin (4,6-dichlorpentol). Examination of the other members of the family proved negative. At present the patient is without complaints, stool examinations for parasites were repeatedly negative. Contact with sheep or consumption of contaminated liver was not demonstrated. The parasitic infestation may have occurred via an intermediate host, as the patient was keen on collecting different animals, particularly snails.
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PMID:[A rare case of human autochthonous dicrocoeliasis in Czechoslovakia]. 276 75


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