Whipple's disease presenting with isolated neurological symptoms. Case report.
Whipple's disease is infrequently considered in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with progressive neurological deterioration. This is in part a result of the relative rarity of this entity and in part due to the more frequent initial presentation of the disease with gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, or cardiovascular symptoms. A case is described in which the neurological symptoms of progressive dementia and weakness were seen in the relative absence of non-neurological symptomatology. The diagnosis of Whipple's disease was made from a brain biopsy. The neuropathology of Whipple's disease of the central nervous system is described and the importance of considering it as a treatable entity in the differential diagnosis of progressive neurological deterioration, despite the absence of systemic symptomatology, is stressed.
Department of Neurosurgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.
A P
AP
Brown
J C
JC
Lane
S
S
Murayama
D G
DG
Vollmer
D001706:Biopsy; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008061:Whipple Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology