Syphilitic Scleritis

Abstract

A 47-year-old man developed a painful right red eye for 72 hours with a 20/25 decreased visual acuity. He had no medical history. Slit-lamp examination revealed a painful nodular scleritis at the equator of the globe in the infero-temporal quadrant. There was a moderate intraocular inflammation in the anterior segment. Fundus examination revealed a grade 1 hyalitis and a focal retinitis with vasculitis and arterio-veinous occlusion toward the scleritis zone. Syphilis and HIV serology were positive and the scleritis resolved 5 days after a penicillin G medication. Syphilitic scleritis are relatively uncommon.

Keywords: HIV coinfection; red eye; scleritis; syphilis; uveitis.