This paper presents a case of acute intermittent porphyria in a male patient and reviews pertinent literatures.
Acute intermittent porphyria is a relatively rare disease in Korea, and 5 cases of acute intermittent porphyria were reported during the last 10 years, all of which were found in female patients. We experienced an acute intermittent porphyria in male who had been relatively healed by until he complained of cramping abdominal pain and passed portwine-colored urine, and were some what neurotic in behavior, associated with positive test for Watson-Schwartz in the urine, when he was admitted to the department of internal medicine, National Medical Center in Korea in August 1912. During the period of hospitalization, he had suffered from severe constipation and also been found to have mild hypertension an anemia.
So he was treated with medications such as narcotics, spasmolytic agents, neomycin, whole blood transfusion, and high carbohydrate diet etc. Thereafter, symptoms were much relieved and the laboratory studies such as Watson-Schwartz test and urine coproporphyrin test had fluctuated in degree of positivity in the period of our observation.
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