In spite of being preventable, Congenital syphilis (CS) is still an important, and growing health problem worldwide. Fetal infection can be particularly aggressive, but newborns can be asymptomatic at birth and, if left untreated, develop systemic compromise afterwards with poor prognosis. We analyzed 61 CS diagnosis cases between 1987–2019 presenting at the Buenos Aires Children’ Hospital. The distribution of cases showed a bimodal curve, with a peak in 1992–1993 and in 2014–2017. Median age at diagnosis was 2 months (IQ 1–6 months). The main clinical findings were: bone alterations (59%); hepatosplenomegaly (54.1%); anemia (62.8%); skin lesions (42.6%) and renal compromise (33.3%). Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was abnormal in 5 patients, normal in 45 and was not available for 11 patients. Remarkably, spinal lumbar puncture did not modify therapeutic decisions in any case. Between mothers, only 46% have been tested for syphilis during pregnancy and 60.5% patients had non-treponemal titers equal to or less than fourfold the maternal titer. Intravenous penicillin G was prescribed for all except one patient, who received ceftriaxone with good therapeutic response. During follow-up, 1.6% infants died, 6.5% had persistent kidney disorders and 1.6% showed bone sequelae damage. RPR titers decreased after treatment, reaching negative seroconversion in 43% subjects at a median of 26.4 months. Low adherence to follow up was observed due to inherent vulnerable and low-income population characteristics in our cohort. Our results highlight a rising tendency in cases referred for CS in our population with high morbidity related to delayed diagnosis. A good therapeutic response was observed. CS requires a greater effort from the health system to adequately screen for this disease during pregnancy, and to detect cases earlier, to provide an adequate diagnosis and treatment.
Although congenital syphilis (CS) is preventable, it is still an important health problem worldwide. Recently, an increase in the number of primary and congenital syphilis cases has been observed. Fetal infection can be particularly aggressive, but newborns can be asymptomatic at birth and run the risk of developing systemic compromise with a poor prognosis. We conducted a study (1987-2019) analyzing the medical records of CS diagnosis cases assisted at the Buenos Aires Children Hospital. Sixty-one patients were included. Information about demographics, clinical and laboratory findings, T. pallidum serology and treatment was collected. Median age at diagnosis was 2 months (IQ 1-6 months). The distribution of cases showed a bimodal curve, with a peak in 1993 and in 2017. The main clinical findings were: bone alterations in 36/61 (59%); hepatosplenomegaly in 33/61 (54.1%); anemia in 32/51 (62.8%); skin lesions 26/61 (42.6%) and renal compromise in 15/45 (33.3%). Cerebrospinal fluid was studied in 50/61 (81.9%); 5 (10%) were abnormal (reactive VDRL and/or cell alteration count). Only 23 (60.5%) patients had nontreponemal titers fourfold higher than their mothers did. Intravenous penicillin G for an average of 10-14 days was prescribed in 60/61 subjects and one patient received ceftriaxone. Remarkably, only 28 (46%) mothers were tested for syphilis during pregnancy. During follow-up, a decrease in RPR titers was observed reaching seroconversion in 31/34 (91%) subjects at a median of 19.2 months after treatment. Treponemal titers (TPHA) remained reactive. Our results highlighted that an increase in the number of cases of CS is occurring in our population with high morbidity related to delayed diagnosis. A good therapeutic response was observed. CS requires a greater effort from obstetricians to adequately screen for the disease during pregnancy and pediatricians should be alert in order to detect cases earlier, to provide an adequate diagnosis and treatment of CS.
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