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Case Reports
. 2020 Jun 11;7(6):e00395.
doi: 10.14309/crj.0000000000000395. eCollection 2020 Jun.

Syphilis Causing Lichenoid Esophagitis

Shaheer Siddiqui  1 , Shruti Khurana  1 , Zhenjian Cai  2 , Scott Larson  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Syphilis Causing Lichenoid Esophagitis

Shaheer Siddiqui et al. ACG Case Rep J. .

Abstract

We present a 50-year-old woman with human immunodeficiency virus admitted to the hospital for melenic stools and anemia who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy for evaluation of upper gastrointestinal bleed. She is found to have inflammation of the esophagus with ulcerations and crater formation. A biopsy reveals severe inflammation with lymphocytic infiltrates with civatte bodies suggestive of lichenoid esophagitis with the presence of spirochetes (Treponema pallidum). The presence of syphilis in the esophagus causing lichenoid esophagitis is an extremely rare presentation that has never been reported.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Esophagoduodenoscopy showing esophageal ulcers with crater formation and stricture at 35 cm.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Biopsy of the esophageal ulcer showing (A) lichenoid pattern of injury with civatte bodies (red arrow) and intraepithelial lymphocytosis (green arrow) (100× magnification) and (B) numerous spirochetes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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