Detection and Characteristic of Whipple Diseases in the Great Britany

Overview

Whipple's disease is a chronic systemic infection caused by ubiquitous bacterium Tropheryma wipplei on a genetic predisposition which should be considered in patients with recurrent episodes of seronegative arthritis, erosive or not, or inflammatory low back pain, chronic diarrhea, persistent fever, unexplained neurological signs, uveitis, endocarditis, and epithelioid granuloma. Laboratory tests may show malabsorption, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein elevation, anemia, thrombocytosis, eosinophilia and lymphopenia. None of theses findings is specific and most patients have arthritis or low back pain mimicking rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritis. As the disease is rare, chance for positive polymerase chain reaction testing for Tropheryma whipplei is low in this context.

Conditions

Eligibility

Locations (8)