A Clinical Report of Adult Acute Viral Hepatitis Type A Treated with Herbal Prescriptions

Owing to improvement of socioeconomic status during recent decades in Korea, incidence of hepatitis A has rapidly decreased, especially among children. However, this status has paradoxically caused a steady increase of adult patients with HAV infection, causing new medical issues associated with aggravated clinical symptoms. The present study reports an adult case of acute viral hepatitis type A treated with oriental medicine. The elevated biochemical findings(AST, ALT, gamma-GTP, bilirubin), physical symptoms (general weakness, nausea, right flank pain, itching sign), and serological makers (anti-HAV IgM and anti-HAV IgG) were normalized within four weeks. Also, sonographic examination showed a normal pattern on an enlarged liver image. This study informed us about the clinical capacity of oriental medicine for adult patients with acute viral hepatitis type A.