Whipple's Disease

IN 1907 Whipple1 first described intestinal lipodystrophy, an entity that has since been recorded but 37 times. Theories of the pathogenesis of the lipogranulomatosis of the small intestine and mesenteric lymph nodes have failed to suggest an effective form of therapy. The majority of reported cases have occurred in males, and most of the patients have died after a debilitating course of abdominal pain, steatorrhea, malnutrition with striking pigmentation and arthritis, despite various forms of treatment, including bile salts, pancreatic extract, choline, lecithin, folic acid, liver extract, aqueous adrenocortical extract, desoxycorticosterone, duodenal fluid, the fat-soluble vitamins and supportive measures.Whipple . . .