[Whipple's disease with severe gastrointestinal hemorrhage]

A case report is given of a 54 year old male patient, who had acute, relapsing, life threatening episodes of gastro-intestinal bleeding caused by hemorrhagic gastroduodenitis associated with Whipple's disease. The diagnosis was established by histological examination of duodenum biopsies, which contained the pathognomonic PAS-positive macrophages. The gastroduodenitis healed after treatment with tetracyclines und bleeding stopped consequently. Clinical, pathological, radiological and clinical chemistry findings of patients with Whipple's disease are discussed on the basis of literature.