Clinical Manifestations, Treatment, and Diagnosis of Tropheryma whipplei Infections.

ABSTRACT: Whipple's disease is a rare infectious disease that can be fatal if left untreated. The disease is caused by infection with Tropheryma whipplei, a bacterium that may be more common than was initially assumed. Most patients present with nonspecific symptoms, and as routine cultivation of the bacterium is not feasible, it is difficult to diagnose this infection. On the other hand, due to the generic symptoms, infection with this bacterium is actually quite often in the differential diagnosis. The gold standard for diagnosis used to be periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining of duodenal biopsy specimens, but PAS staining has a poor specificity and sensitivity. The development of molecular techniques has resulted in more convenient methods for detecting T. whipplei infections, and th

SUBMITTER: Dolmans RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5355640 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature