Skip to main content
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry logoLink to Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry
. 1981 Dec;44(12):1104–1109. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.44.12.1104

Whipple's disease confined to the nervous system.

S Pollock, P D Lewis, B Kendall
PMCID: PMC491229  PMID: 6174699

Abstract

Whipple's disease confined to the nervous system occurred in a 36-year old woman who presented with grand mal seizures and dementia. There was no evidence of extracerebral involvement and the jejunal biopsy was negative before treatment. Multiple enhancing lesions on CT scan progressed despite therapy with minocycline and prednisone, but resolved on treatment with tetracycline. The dementia did not progress while she was on antibiotic therapy. Whipple's disease should be considered as a treatable cause of progressive dementia even in the absence of an abnormal jejunal biopsy.

Full text

PDF
1104

Images in this article

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Feldman M., Hendler R. S., Morrison E. B. Acute meningoencephalitis after withdrawal of antibiotics in Whipple's disease. Ann Intern Med. 1980 Nov;93(5):709–711. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-93-5-709. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Feurle G. E., Utz G., Kies D., Aumüller G. Neurologische Manifestationen des Morbus Whipple. Schweiz Med Wochenschr. 1976 Nov 20;106(47):1642–1646. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Feurle G. E., Volk B., Waldherr R. Cerebral Whipple's disease with negative jejunal histology. N Engl J Med. 1979 Apr 19;300(16):907–908. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197904193001607. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Finelli P. F., McEntee W. J., Lessell S., Morgan T. F., Copetto J. Whipple's disease with predominantly neuroophthalmic manifestations. Ann Neurol. 1977 Mar;1(3):247–252. doi: 10.1002/ana.410010308. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Johnson L., Diamond I. Cerebral Whipple's disease. Diagnosis by brain biopsy. Am J Clin Pathol. 1980 Oct;74(4):486–490. doi: 10.1093/ajcp/74.4.486. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Powers J. M., Rawe S. E. A neuropathologic study of Whipple's disease. Acta Neuropathol. 1979 Dec;48(3):223–226. doi: 10.1007/BF00690524. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Romanul F. C., Radvany J., Rosales R. K. Whipple's disease confined to the brain: a case studied clinically and pathologically. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1977 Sep;40(9):901–909. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.40.9.901. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Schmitt B. P., Richardson H., Smith E., Kaplan R. Encephalopathy complicating Whipple's disease: failure to respond to antibiotics. Ann Intern Med. 1981 Jan;94(1):51–52. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-94-1-51. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Shibata K., Hanai T., Kato T., Ito T., Fujii M. [Laboratory and clinical studies on minocycline in the surgical field]. Jpn J Antibiot. 1969 Dec;22(6):458–462. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Swash M., Schwartz M. S., Vandenburg M. J., Pollock D. J. Myopathy in Whipple's disease. Gut. 1977 Oct;18(10):800–804. doi: 10.1136/gut.18.10.800. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Thompson D. G., Ledingham J. M., Howard A. J., Brown C. L. Meningitis in Whipple's disease. Br Med J. 1978 Jul 1;2(6129):14–15. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.6129.14-a. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES