In 1907, G. H. Whipple performed an autopsy on a 36-year-old physician “characterized by a gradual loss of weight and strength, stools consisting chiefly of neutral fat and fatty acids, indefinite abdominal signs, and a peculiar multiple arthritis.”<sup>20 Maizel H., Ruffin J.M., Dobbins W.O. Whipple's disease: A review of 19 patients from one hospital and a review of the literature since 1950 Medicine 1993 ;  17 : 343

Cliquez ici pour aller à la section Références</sup> He described “peculiar wandering and phagocytic mononuclear cells” in the intestinal walls and mesenteric lymph nodes as well as the presence of rod-like bacilli in the lamina propria of the intestine.<sup>5 Comer G.M., Brandt L.J., Abissi C.J. Whipple's disease: A review Am J Gastroenterol 1983 ;  78 : 107

Cliquez ici pour aller à la section Références</sup> The next case reported in the literature was in 1923. In 1949, Black-Schaffer<sup>1 Black-Schaffer B. The tinctorial demonstration of a glycoprotein in Whipple's disease Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 1949 ;  72 : 225

Cliquez ici pour aller à la section Références</sup> demonstrated that the macrophages found in the intestinal mucosa of a patient with Whipple's disease stained vividly by the periodic acid–Schiff (PAS) method.

Using electron microscopy in 1961, Yardley et al revealed that these same rod-shaped structures in the intestinal mucosa and within the intestinal macrophages were bacteria. Later that year, the same group reported finding PAS-positive macrophages in tissue sections obtained from Whipple's original patient. Peroral small bowel biopsy was used in 1947 to make the first premortem diagnosis of this condition.<sup>5 Comer G.M., Brandt L.J., Abissi C.J. Whipple's disease: A review Am J Gastroenterol 1983 ;  78 : 107

Cliquez ici pour aller à la section Références</sup> In 1952, Paulley was the first to use antibiotics successfully to treat Whipple's disease, but it was recognized only subsequently that Whipple's disease is systemic in nature and can respond to a variety of antibiotic regimens.<sup>13 Keinath R.D., Merrell D.E., Vlietstra R. , et al. Antibiotic treatment and relapse in Whipple's disease: Long-term follow-up of 88 patients Gastroenterology 1985 ;  88 : 167

Cliquez ici pour aller à la section Références</sup> Although the disease was recognized as an infectious disease for decades, it was not until the 1990s that the causative organism was definitively identified and classified as Tropheryma whippelii.