Rare erosive arthritis and dermatitis syndrome in Whipple's disease

Whipple's disease is a rare infectious disease, which can affect various organ systems. Arthritis is a common symptom and therefore the infection is often misdiagnosed as seronegative rheumatoid arthritis. In rare cases an infection with Tropheryma whipplei can also cause skin lesions, such as...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Zeitschrift für Rheumatologie 2019-03, Vol.78 (2), p.180-182
Main Authors: Krusche, M, Boro, D, Bertolini, J, Kötter, I
Format: Article
Language:ger
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Whipple's disease is a rare infectious disease, which can affect various organ systems. Arthritis is a common symptom and therefore the infection is often misdiagnosed as seronegative rheumatoid arthritis. In rare cases an infection with Tropheryma whipplei can also cause skin lesions, such as subcutaneous nodules, erythema nodosum or vasculitis. This article reports the case of a 77-year-old female patient with erosive joint changes, persistently elevated serological inflammation markers and recurrent ulcerative lesions of the lower extremities, which were initially misdiagnosed as rheumatoid vasculitis. In cases of a clinically suspected infection with Tropheryma whipplei an early biopsy of the affected organ system is essential for the diagnosis.
ISSN:1435-1250
DOI:10.1007/s00393-019-0602-2