Pulmonary involvement of secondary syphilis

Abstract

Pulmonary involvement in secondary syphilis is considered a rare occurrence; however, the number of cases has increased in the 2000s. This is likely due to the increased use of computed tomography scans and molecular diagnostic testing. We report a case of an HIV-positive man with pleural chest pain and bilateral subpleural nodules on chest computed tomography. His rapid plasma reagin and Treponema pallidum hemagglutination tests were positive, and the specimen of one of the pulmonary nodules obtained by transthoracic biopsy was positive for the polA gene of Treponema pallidum. Since clinical manifestations of syphilis are highly variable, clinicians should bear in mind that pleural chest pain with bilateral subpleural nodules can be caused by pulmonary syphilis.

A lung abscess caused by secondary syphilis – the utility of polymerase chain reaction techniques in transbronchial biopsy: a case report

“…Coleman showed the criteria for the clinical diagnosis of secondary syphilis with pulmonary involvement in 1983 [5], and several dozen cases have been reported [6–16]. In some of them, PCR was used for the diagnosis of pulmonary involvement (Table 3) [13–16].…”

“…Coleman showed the criteria for the clinical diagnosis of secondary syphilis with pulmonary involvement in 1983 [5], and several dozen cases have been reported [6–16]. In some of them, PCR was used for the diagnosis of pulmonary involvement (Table 3) [13–16]. PCR is useful for the diagnosis of the infection of Treponema pallidum [18, 19], because it is difficult to directly visualize Treponema pallidum .…”

“…PCR is useful for the diagnosis of the infection of Treponema pallidum [18, 19], because it is difficult to directly visualize Treponema pallidum . In those reports, PCR was used in samples from TBB, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), bronchial aspirate, or computed tomography-guided percutaneous needle aspiration (CTNA) [13–16]. Thus far, only one case has been reported on lung abscess caused by secondary syphilis, that was diagnosed by PCR in CTNA [15].…”

“…Lung lesions associated with syphilis are still rare, but the reported cases have been increasing as the number of patients with syphilis increases [5–16]. Thus, we should consider chest X-ray in the cases of the patients with syphilis who have pulmonary symptoms.…”

“…In Japan and other countries, the number of patients with syphilis is increasing year by year [2–4]. Recently, several dozen reports showed the pulmonary involvement in patients with secondary syphilis [5–16]; however, it is still undetermined how to obtain a desirable specimen for a diagnosis of the pulmonary involvement, and how to treat it if not cured.…”