Interní Med. 2018; 20(5): 269-273 | DOI: 10.36290/int.2018.046

Whipple disease – do we think of it?

MUDr. Petr Kozák
Gastroenterologická ambulance, Nemocnice Hranice, a. s.

Whipple disease (WD) is a rare diagnosis caused by the bacterium Tropheryma whipplei. Typically causes chronic diarrhea, weightloss, abdominal pain and joint pain. The aim of this article is a description of the less common cause of chronic diarrhea andarthralgia in a 65 year old patient. Based on typical medical history, WD was suspected to be the cause of the symptoms and thegastroscopy (GFS) with the biopsy confirmed the diagnosis. The patient was treated with intravenous ceftriaxone with subsequentprolonged oral therapy with the combination of trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TMP-STX). This case demonstrates the fact thatWD is a disease with multiple manifestations and a very wide differential diagnosis. Its early detection is difficult, especially incase of extraintestinal manifestation.

Keywords: Whipple disease, arthralgia, chronic diarrhea, weight loss

Published: December 1, 2018  Show citation

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Kozák P. Whipple disease – do we think of it? Interní Med. 2018;20(5):269-273. doi: 10.36290/int.2018.046.
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