OCULAR MANIFESTATIONS OF WHIPPLES-DISEASE

Patients and methods We present a 57-year-old white man with progressi ve deterioration of vision, who had a prolonged history of weakness, m igratory arthralgias and loss of weight. Bilateral panuveitis, with ir itis, inflammatory vitreous opacities associated with small, round, gr ayish retinal lesions. The duodenum showed a swollen mucosa, which was flecked over with pinpoint grayish grains. A small-bowel biopsy discl osed PAS-positive granules in the macrophages of the lamina propria mu cosa, pathognomonic of Whipple's disease. Results After antibiotic tre atment with trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole there was no relapse of the panuveitis during the follow-up period of 18 months.