Cerebral Whipple’s Disease Diagnosed Using PCRThe First Case Reported from Greece

Background: Whipple’s disease (WD) is a rare multisystemic bacterial infection, with variable clinical manifestations occasionally involving the central nervous system. As the cultivation of the etiologic agent, Tropheryma whippelii, is difficult, a laboratory diagnosis is usually based on histological methods. In the last few years, molecular detection of the bacterial 16SrRNA genes by PCR, with 2 primer sets, has greatly contributed to the ability of clinicians to diagnose this disease. We present a cerebral case of WD in a 48-year-old male, successfully diagnosed using PCR with T. whippelii in the blood and feces. As far as we know this is the first case reported from Greece.