[Whipple's disease manifested as difficult-to-diagnose polyarthralgia: a case report and literature review]. / Doença de Whipple manifestada como poliartralgia de difícil diagnóstico: relato de caso e revisão da literatura.

Whipple's disease is a rare and multisystemic bacterial disease caused by the Gram-positive bacillus Tropheryma whipplei. Since it is a rare disease with a varied clinical presentation, its diagnosis is often delayed. The joint manifestations may precede the typical syndrome in decades, being a challenge for specialists and internists. We report a case of Whipple's disease in a man with polyarthralgia whose diagnosis was established after extensive clinical deterioration over five years.