Whipple's disease: when diarrhea is absent.

Whipple's disease is a rare bacterial, chronic and multisystemic disease, produced by the gram-positive bacillus Tropheryma whipplei. The clinical manifestations are varied and diagnosis is often delayed. The four cardinal symptoms are arthralgias, weight loss, diarrhea and abdominal pain. The classic symptoms could be preceded up to three quarters by different joint manifestations that evolve intermittently. The average time to diagnosis is 6 years. We present the case of a young patient with recurrent febrile episodes and associated joint disease, in whom the absence of digestive symptoms led to a diagnostic laparoscopy since this entity was not suspected before.