Abstract
Introduction: Whipple's disease is a chronic systemic infection caused by a gram-positive bacterium, Tropheryma whippelii. The small intestine is affected most often, but a variety of other organs may also be involved, including the joints, the cardiovascular system, and the central nervous system.
The clinical symptoms and findings are various, including weight loss, diarrhea, malabsorption, fever, arthralgias, skin hyperpigmentation, and dementia. Case report: A 52years old male patient with a history of diarrhea, weight loss, fever and other minor symptoms developed abdominal pain and intestinal obstruction.
Massive intraabdominal lymphadenopathy was found on CT scans and the patient with a strong suspicion of lymphoma or other malignancy was indicated for explorative laparotomy with taking biopsy specimens. The result was surprising and showed inflammatory infiltration consistent with Whippple's disease.
Treatment with antibiotics leads to complete clinical remission. Conclusion:A uthors present an acute intestinal obstruction as an unusual symptom of a rare Whipple's disease and a therapeutis success of specific antibiotic treatment.