Eosinophilic gastroenteritis is characterized by peripheral eosinophilia, eosinophilic infiltration of the bowel and gastrointestinal symptoms. The disease may affect any area of the gastrointestinal tract. Various manifestations are present, corresponding to the predominant layer of the eosinophilic infiltration. We experienced a case of eosinophilic gastroenteritis presenting as protein-losing enteropathy in a 36-year old male patient with acute upper abdominal pain and watery diarrhea. He showed peripheral eosinophilia, hypoalbuminemia, penile., thigh and ankle edema. The patient was treated with oral corticosteroid, and supportive care such as parenteral albumin, fluid and electrolytes. Almost all symptoms resloved within 1 week. The present report concerns a case of eosinophilic gastroenteritis associated with protein loss. Cases, of eosinophilic gastroenteritis with protein-losing enteropathy are not common. To our knowledge, no case has reported in Korea. So we report this case with brief review of the literature.
Abdominal Pain ; Adult ; Ankle ; Diarrhea ; Edema ; Electrolytes ; Eosinophilia ; Eosinophils* ; Gastroenteritis* ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Humans ; Hypoalbuminemia ; Korea ; Male ; Protein-Losing Enteropathies ; Thigh