Intestinal lipodystrophy (Whipple's disease); the immediate and prolonged effect of antibiotic therapy

It is now generally accepted that the treatment of choice for intestinal lipodystrophy (Whipple's disease) is antibiotic therapy.¹⁻⁵At one time, it was thought that steroids were of value, and clinical recoveries after their administration have been reported.⁶However, the widespread use of antibiotics in febrile illness and in preoperative and postoperative management makes it difficult to conclude that those patients who recovered after the use of steroids did not also receive antibiotics at some time during the course of their disease.²Furthermore, recurrences after therapy are common,¹,⁷and, unless the case has been followed for a considerable period, it is difficult to evaluate the long-term effect of treatment. To determine the immediate and the prolonged effect of antibiotic therapy in intestinal lipodystrophy, a review was undertaken of ten patients so treated at Duke University Medical Center during the past 15 years. Materials and Methods Sixteen