WHIPPLE-DISEASE PRESENTING AS POSTERIOR UVEITIS WITHOUT PROMINENT GASTROINTESTINAL SYMPTOMS

PURPOSE: To describe the clinical presentation and course of Whipple d isease in an adult, METHODS: A 34-year-old mall with phthisis bulbi in the right eye secondary to uveitis-induced neovascular glaucoma prese nted with severe acute posterior uveitis in the left eye. He underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy and jejunal biopsy for evaluation of anemi a. The posterior uveitis was treated with a subtenon injection of tria mcinolone. RESULT: The diagnosis of Whipple disease was confirmed by p olymerase chain reaction analysis of the jejunal biopsy that demonstra ted Tropheryma whippelii rDNA. CONCLUSION: Although Whipple disease is typically evident with malabsorption, it can also present as uveitis without prominent gastrointestinal symptoms. (C) 1998 by Elsevier Scie nce Inc. All rights reserved.