title: Premature ovarian failure in suspected Whipple's disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Whipple's disease is a relapsing systemic infectious disease probably caused by the Gram-positive bacillus Tropheryma whippelii. The diagnosis can be established based on the characteristic histopathological features found in the affected organ (foamy macrophages with a coarsely granular cytoplasm, which stains with PAS, and by means of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology).
  
  
  METHODS
  We report a case of a 23-year-old woman affected by suspected Whipple's disease. She presented encephalopathy and neuropathy with inveterate hyperpyrexia and alteration of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovary axe. She was amenorrheic because of an hypergonadotropic hypogonadism.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This hypogonadism is possibly due to follicular depletion caused by inveterate hyperpyrexia or T. whipplii localization.
authors: Ob-Gyn Department, Vita-Salute University, H San Raffaele, Milan, Italy. stefano.ferrari@fastwebnet.it
authors: Stefano
authors: S
authors: Ferrari
authors: Francesca
authors: F
authors: Di Puppo
authors: Paola
authors: P
authors: Persico
authors: Augusto
authors: A
authors: Ferrari
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007006:Hypogonadism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D016649:Primary Ovarian Insufficiency / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D008061:Whipple Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis