Disseminated Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare infection in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome mimicking Whipple's disease

Abstract

We report a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome whose clinical presentation and histologic features resembled Whipple's disease. The unique feature of this case was the absence of Whipple's bacillus and the presence of Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare within macrophages infiltrating the small intestinal lamina propria.