TY - JOUR
T1 - Whipple's Disease
T2 - Clinical, Biochemical, and Histopathologic Features and Assessment of Treatment in 29 Patients
AU - FLEMING, JON L.
AU - WIESNER, RUSSELL H.
AU - SHORTER, ROY G.
PY - 1988
Y1 - 1988
N2 - Whipple's disease is a chronic systemic illness, the optimal treatment of which remains poorly defined. In our analysis of a 30-year, 29-patient experience with Whipple's disease at the Mayo Clinic, the frequent initial manifestations of diarrhea, weight loss, arthritis, and lymphadenopathy correlated with findings reported previously by other investigators. Antibiotic therapy yielded rapid symptomatic and biochemical improvement, and histologic changes in the small bowel occurred subsequently. Despite antimicrobial therapy, relapses in patients with Whipple's disease are common, and the central nervous system is considered the most serious site of involvement for recurrence. Administration of an antibiotic agent that is able to cross the blood-brain barrier may be more important in preventing relapse than prolonged duration of initial antimicrobial therapy.
AB - Whipple's disease is a chronic systemic illness, the optimal treatment of which remains poorly defined. In our analysis of a 30-year, 29-patient experience with Whipple's disease at the Mayo Clinic, the frequent initial manifestations of diarrhea, weight loss, arthritis, and lymphadenopathy correlated with findings reported previously by other investigators. Antibiotic therapy yielded rapid symptomatic and biochemical improvement, and histologic changes in the small bowel occurred subsequently. Despite antimicrobial therapy, relapses in patients with Whipple's disease are common, and the central nervous system is considered the most serious site of involvement for recurrence. Administration of an antibiotic agent that is able to cross the blood-brain barrier may be more important in preventing relapse than prolonged duration of initial antimicrobial therapy.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0025-6196(12)64884-8
DO - 10.1016/S0025-6196(12)64884-8
M3 - Article
C2 - 2453762
AN - SCOPUS:0023813853
SN - 0025-6196
VL - 63
SP - 539
EP - 551
JO - Mayo Clinic proceedings
JF - Mayo Clinic proceedings
IS - 6
ER -