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Case Reports
. 2019 Jan-Dec:33:2058738419845566.
doi: 10.1177/2058738419845566.

Beyond appearance: An unusual manifestation of isolated oral secondary syphilis

Elena Mari  1 , Maurizio Nudo  1 , Enzo Palese  1 , Luisa Cotticelli  2 , Ciro Cotticelli  2 , Grazia Zino  1 , Rosa Coppola  3 , Federica Maria Di Lella  4 , Gabriele Arcari  5 , Donatella Maria Rodio  5 , Carla Prezioso  5 , Valeria Pietropaolo  5 , Valeria Devirgiliis  3 , Vincenzo Panasiti  3
Affiliations
Case Reports

Beyond appearance: An unusual manifestation of isolated oral secondary syphilis

Elena Mari et al. Int J Immunopathol Pharmacol. 2019 Jan-Dec.

Abstract

Syphilis is a sexually acquired chronic infection caused by Treponema pallidum and is characterized by a variety of clinical manifestations. The secondary stage of the disease results from the hematogenous and lymphatic dissemination of treponemes after a few weeks or months, and it is characterized by recurrent activity of the disease, with muco-cutaneous as well as systemic manifestations. Mucosal lesions range from small, superficial ulcers that resemble painless aphthae to large gray plaques, and they are generally associated with systemic manifestations of the disease. The exclusive asymptomatic oral localization not associated with general manifestations is uncommon but may actually be unrecognized and under-reported. We report a case of isolated oral manifestation as the unique presentation of secondary syphilis.

Keywords: oral syphilis; secondary syphilis; unusual manifestation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Circular tender and infiltrated whitish plaques on the tongue in the photography taken after the first medical examination. Given the absence of any other symptom the hypothesis of an isolated oral secondary syphilis was first excluded.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
A typical presentation of oral thrush. Given the similarity of our patient condition to this classic scenario a misdiagnosis can be easily done.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
After an accurate diagnosis and two doses of Penicillin G 1.2 million units, a complete resolution of the lesions can be observed.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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