Introduction:

Whipple’s disease is a chronic systemic disease with a predilection for the digestive system, especially the small intestine. It was first described in 1907 by George H. Whipple, who named it intestinal lipodystrophy. It is caused by a gram-positive bacterium belonging to the Actinomycetaceae family called Tropheryma whipplei.

Objective:

To characterize patients with Whipple’s disease.

Materials and methods:

A systematic literature review was carried out using the DeCS terms enfermedad de Whipple (Whipple’s disease) or (Tropheryma whipplei) in the Pubmed/Medline, Scopus, Scielo, Science Direct, Embase, Cochrane Library, BIREME, Proquest, and Redalyc databases; 123 articles were analyzed.

Results:

123 published articles corresponding to case reports and series were examined, noting a higher prevalence in males (70.6%). The most frequent manifestations were joint symptoms (61%), followed by weight loss (47.1%) and diarrhea (43.4%). The most used diagnostic method was polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (63.2%), followed by biopsy (50.7%) and pathological examination with PAS (periodic acid Schiff) granules (47.8%). The management most used was antibiotic therapy with a predominance of trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and ceftriaxone.

Conclusions:

Whipple’s disease has a low prevalence, occurs more frequently in white people, mainly affects the elderly, has a predilection for the male sex, and is characterized as a chronic systemic disease with a predilection for the digestive system, especially the small intestine.

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