Tropheryma whipplei Endocarditis

• Main Authors: Florence Fenollar, Marie Célard, Jean-Christophe Lagier, Hubert Lepidi, Pierre-Edouard Fournier, Didier Raoult
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2013-11-01
• Series: Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Subjects: Whipple’s disease; Whipple disease; Tropheryma whipplei; endocarditis; bacteria; arthralgia
• Online Access: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/19/11/12-1356_article
• ISSN: 1080-6040; 1080-6059

Tropheryma whipplei endocarditis differs from classic Whipple disease, which primarily affects the gastrointestinal system. We diagnosed 28 cases of T. whipplei endocarditis in Marseille, France, and compared them with cases reported in the literature. Specimens were analyzed mostly by molecular and histologic techniques. Duke criteria were ineffective for diagnosis before heart valve analysis. The disease occurred in men 40–80 years of age, of whom 21 (75%) had arthralgia (75%); 9 (32%) had valvular disease and 11 (39%) had fever. Clinical manifestations were predominantly cardiologic. Treatment with doxycycline and hydroxychloroquine for at least 12 months was successful. The cases we diagnosed differed from those reported from Germany, in which arthralgias were less common and previous valve lesions more common. A strong geographic specificity for this disease is found mainly in eastern-central France, Switzerland, and Germany. T. whipplei endocarditis is an emerging clinical entity observed in middle-aged and older men with arthralgia.