Reversible Pulmonary Hypertension Associated with Whipple’s Disease

Abstract EN

We describe a case of Whipple’s disease with pulmonary hypertension in a 72-year-old woman in whom the pulmonary hypertension resolved completely after antibiotic therapy.

She was admitted to study with a 2-months history of weight loss, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, asthenia, inappetence, and fever.

She did not have dyspnoea or respiratory symptoms.

A casual echocardiogram showed a pulmonary artery systolic pressure of 95 mmHg.

Forty days after starting antibiotic therapy, an echocardiogram showed a complete normalisation of right ventricular involvement.

Whipple’s disease is a rare and multisystemic disorder in which pulmonary involvement is not a well-known finding.

Although Whipple’s disease is not generally considered as a possible cause of pulmonary hypertension, such awareness is important because it may be potentially resolved with antibiotic therapy.