Ocular Whipple Disease: Report of Three Cases

Abstract

Purpose: To emphasize the different manifestations of ocular involvement in Whipple disease with challenge in establishing the diagnosis as clinical, laboratory, and histological features could mimic other uveitis entities. Methods: Case reports of three patients. Results: The first patient was an African male suffering from a chronic bilateral keratoconjunctitivitis that was initially misdiagnosed as a chronic allergic conjunctivitis. The second patient was an Italian female who presented with bilateral vitritis, whereas the third patient was an Italian male suffering from a chronic bilateral panuveitis. The diagnosis of ocular Whipple in the first and third case was made by a positive T. whipplei PCR from the ocular specimen, and the second patient had detection of T. whipplei from extraocular sites. Conclusions: Whipple disease can have protean manifestations in the eye including an isolated ocular surface involvement manifested as keratitis.

Keywords: Keratitis; Whipple disease; ocular Whipple disease; uveitis; vitritis.