Feurle GE, Junga NS, Marth T.
DRK Krankenhaus, Neuwied, Germany.
Gastroenterology 2010;138:478–86.
Editor’s note: Whipple’s disease is a rare multisystem disorder caused by infection by an actinomycete bacterium, Tropheryma whipplei. Characteristically, infection of the intestine is identified by macrophages staining positively by the periodic acid Schiff reaction. Protracted courses of antibiotics are generally used to treat the infection, and multiple agents have been tried in the past with varying degrees of success (Dig Dis Sci 1994;39:1642–8, Medicine (Baltimore) 1997;76:170–84). The rarity of the disease has meant that controlled trials have hitherto never been performed.