Cardiac complications in Whipple's disease

Abstract

Whipple's disease or intestinal lipodystrophy is an infection induced by Tropheryma whipplei. It is rare with an estimated incidence of 0.4 per million. Symptoms are arthropathy, weight loss, and diarrhoea, but other organs notably the central nervous system may be affected. We demonstrate a case of cardiac complications in Whipple's disease. The patient presented with endocardial infiltrations on TEE examinations and heart failure and improved after antibiotic treatment. © The Author 2008.