Whipple's disease.

Whipple's disease is a systemic bacterial infection that once was uniformly fatal and now is treatable with several different antibiotics in most cases. The exact nature of the Whipple's bacillus is unknown, since the organism cannot consistently be cultured. There is also controversy concerning the role of immunologic dysfunction in patients with Whipple's disease. In addition to the small intestine, Whipple's disease can involve the remainder of the gastrointestinal tract, as well as the lymph nodes, joints, nervous system, heart, eyes, hematopoietic system, lungs, liver, and other organs. The clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment of this rare but fascinating disease will be reviewed in this article.