Whipple's Disease With Cardiac and Renal Abnormalities

Heart lesions are common in Whipple's disease (intestinal lipodystrophy)1-3but their occurrence often does not result in significant clinical manifestations. Consequently, few clinical observations of cardiovascular abnormalities have been recorded, and the extent of cardiac involvement has not been widely appreciated among clinicians. It is the purpose of this communication to present a patient with Whipple's disease whose course was complicated by cardiac decompensation, pericarditis, and focal glomerulitis. To my knowledge, this is the third report of Whipple's disease in the literature in which pericarditis has been clinically described and the first in which cardiac decompensation has not represented a terminal event. Patient Summary A 47-year-old white man was admitted to the Washington Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital in July 1965 because of diarrhea of six months' duration. This illness began in June 1960 with the onset of redness, swelling, and pain in both ankles and knees. The joint inflammation