Volume 15, Number 5—May 2009
Letter
Postoperative Panophthalmitis Caused by Whipple Disease
Table
Characteristics of 19 patients with Whipple disease uveitis documented by presence of Tropheryma whipplei in a diseased eye*
Patient. no. | Age, y/sex | Class | Location | Postoperative uveitis | Use of local or systemic steroids | Microscopy, PAS stain | EM | PCR | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 52/M | I | B | – | No | + | + | ND | (3) |
2 | 60/M | A | B | – | No | + | + | ND | (5) |
3 | 56/M | A | B | + | Yes | + | ND | ND | (4) |
4 | 47/M | A | B | – | Yes | + | ND | ND | (4) |
5 | 65/M | A | B | + | Yes | + | + | + | (6) |
6 | 59/F | A | B | + | Yes | + | + | + | (7)† |
7 | 53/F | Pa | U | – | Yes | + | ND | + | (7)† |
8 | 65/M | I | U | + | Yes | + | ND | + | (7)† |
9 | NR/NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | ND | ND | + | (8) |
10 | 65/M | I | U | + | Yes | ND | ND | +‡ | (7) |
11 | 81/M | P | U | + | Yes | ND | ND | +‡ | (7) |
12 | 35/M | P | U | NR | NR | ND | ND | +‡ | (7) |
13 | 46/M | P | U | – | No | ND | ND | +‡ | (7) |
14 | 3/F | A | U | – | No | ND | ND | +‡ | (7) |
15 | 90/F | A | U | + | Yes | ND | ND | +‡ | (7) |
16 | 69/M | P | U | + | Yes | ND | ND | +‡ | (7) |
17 | 20/F | A | U | + | Yes | ND | ND | +‡ | (7) |
18 | 74/F | Pa | U | + | Yes | ND | ND | +‡ | (7) |
19 | 78/F | P | U | + | Yes | ND | ND | +‡ | (7) |
*PAS, periodic acid–Schiff; EM, electron microscopy; I, intermediate; B, bilateral; ND, not done; A, anterior; Pa, panuveitis; U, unilateral; NR, not reported; P, posterior.
†Reviewed by Drancourt et al. (7).
‡These patients were considered to have suspected cases.
References
- Raoult D, Birg ML, La Scola B, Fournier PE, Enea M, Lepidi H, Cultivation of the bacillus of Whipple’s disease. N Engl J Med. 2000;342:620–5. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
- Fenollar F, Puechal X, Raoult D. Whipple’s disease. N Engl J Med. 2007;356:55–66. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
- Knox DL, Green WR, Troncoso JC, Yardley JH, Hsu J, Zee DS. Cerebral ocular Whipple’s disease: a 62-year odyssey from death to diagnosis. Neurology. 1995;45:617–25.PubMedGoogle Scholar
- Mahnel R, Kalt A, Ring S, Stallmach A, Strober W, Marth T. Immunosuppressive therapy in Whipple’s disease patients is associated with the appearance of gastrointestinal manifestations. Am J Gastroenterol. 2005;100:1167–73. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
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