Publication Details

AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS

SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH

immunology and microbiology

A Massive Number of Extracellular Tropheryma whipplei in Infective Endocarditis: A Case Report and Literature Review

Frontiers in Immunology, Volume 13, Article 900589, Year 2022

Whipple’s disease (WD) is a chronic multisystemic infection caused by Tropheryma whipplei. If this bacterium presents an intracellular localization, associated with rare diseases and without pathognomonic signs, it is often subject to a misunderstanding of its physiopathology, often a misdiagnosis or simply an oversight. Here, we report the case of a patient treated for presumed rheumatoid arthritis. Recently, this patient presented to the hospital with infectious endocarditis. After surgery and histological analysis, we discovered the presence of T. whipplei. Electron microscopy allowed us to discover an atypical bacterial organization with a very large number of bacteria present in the extracellular medium in vegetation and valvular tissue. This atypical presentation we report here might be explained by the anti-inflammatory treatment administrated for our patient’s initial diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis.
Statistics
Citations: 12
Authors: 12
Affiliations: 4
Identifiers
Research Areas
Health System And Policy
Study Approach
Systematic review