Central nervous system relapse of Whipple's disease

Intern Med. 2012;51(15):2045-50. doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.51.7304. Epub 2012 Aug 1.

Abstract

A 50-year-old man presented with a 12 kg weight loss in 8 months. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy findings showed strong erosion and diffuse bleeding in the duodenum. Histopathological findings showed PAS staining-positive macrophages consistent with Whipple's disease. He was treated with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. His condition initially improved. However, during his 6-year course of treatment he developed a central nervous system relapse. Tropheryma whipplei DNA was detected by a polymerase chain reaction in his cerebrospinal fluid. This relapse was successfully treated with ceftriaxone sodium (CTRX). We considered that as initial therapy for Whipple's disease, it would be important to administer CTRX for at least a few months, due to its high translatability to CSF.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use
  • Ceftriaxone / therapeutic use
  • Central Nervous System Bacterial Infections / drug therapy*
  • Central Nervous System Bacterial Infections / microbiology
  • Central Nervous System Bacterial Infections / pathology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Recurrence
  • Trimethoprim, Sulfamethoxazole Drug Combination / therapeutic use
  • Tropheryma / genetics
  • Tropheryma / isolation & purification
  • Whipple Disease / drug therapy*
  • Whipple Disease / microbiology
  • Whipple Disease / pathology

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Ceftriaxone
  • Trimethoprim, Sulfamethoxazole Drug Combination