Whipple's disease. Case report.

The paper reports the clinical case of a 58 -year-old male patient admitted for diarrhea (6-7 stools/day, diffuse abdominal pain, borborygma, weight loss (20 kgs in two years), asthenia and fatigue. Physical examination evidenced a poor nutritional state (body mass index 19 kg/m2). The abdomen was slightly distended.

Coeliac disease: more than villous atrophy.

A continuing flow of new scientific developments concerning coeliac disease in the last decade asks for the formulation of a new concept of pathophysiology and clinical approach of the coeliac condition. Immunogenetic studies have shown a correlation of the disease to the HLA region on the short arm of chromosome 6. Immunological research has led to the concept of a T-cell driven immunologic response of the small intestine, with the identification of highly sensitive and specific antibodies, and in addition the understanding of the histopathology of coeliac disease has changed dramatically, initiated by the proposition of a spectrum of gluten sensitive enteropathy by Marsh in 1992.