Congenital syphilis presenting with liver lesions

Abstract

Congenital syphilis is a prevalent infection in much of the world but rare in contexts where antenatal screening and treatment are available. In the UK in 2016, three cases of congenital syphilis were reported in babies born to women who were seronegative at the time of booking and hence a high degree of clinical vigilance is required in the unwell infant. We present the case of a seven-week-old baby girl with congenital syphilis with the unusual finding of discrete liver lesions. This baby was successfully treated with intravenous ceftriaxone.

Intrahepatic multiple tumor‐like lesions: Complication of congenital syphilis

“…To the best of our knowledge, only two cases, including the present case, have been reported. The previous case was a 7‐week‐old girl; in that case, ultrasound revealed multiple focal hypoechoic lesions in the liver, but computed tomography was not performed 2 . For the present case, we suspected a malignant tumor, which could have been a hepatoblastoma, liver metastasis of neuroblastoma, lymphoma, or leukemia, or an infection such as cat‐scratch disease.…”

“…The previous case was a 7week-old girl; in that case, ultrasound revealed multiple focal hypoechoic lesions in the liver, but computed tomography was not performed. 2 For the present case, we suspected a malignant tumor, which could have been a hepatoblastoma, liver metastasis of neuroblastoma, lymphoma, or leukemia, or an infection such as cat-scratch disease. We planned to perform a liver biopsy but did not do so because the lesions were not typical of malignancy, and the procedure is highly invasive.…”

Congenital syphilis evaluated for syphilitic hepatitis - case series

“…In the United States, from 2013 to 2018, there was an increase in CS rates of 261% with an incidence rate of 33 cases per 100,000 LB (KORENROMP et al, 2019). In the UK between 2010 and 2015, 17 cases of CS were reported (DEALL et al, 2019).…”