Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Dec 21;10(2):ofac685.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofac685. eCollection 2023 Feb.

Otosyphilis

Lucy S Witt  1 , A Wendy Fujita  1 , Jeanne Ho  2 , Yoo Mee Shin  3 , Ketino Kobaidze  3 , Kimberly Workowski  1
Affiliations

Otosyphilis

Lucy S Witt et al. Open Forum Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Otosyphilis can be challenging to diagnose, but, if left unrecognized, it may cause irreversible damage. An immunologic interplay between syphilis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) makes coinfection likely and may predispose people with HIV to neurosyphilis. In this study, we present a case of a man in his 50s with hearing loss and vertigo diagnosed with otosyphilis as well as a new diagnosis of HIV. This case and corresponding discussion serve to inform the noninfectious disease-trained clinician of the symptoms, diagnostics, and treatment options for otosyphilis as well as to discuss the relationship between HIV and syphilis and demonstrate the importance of disease recognition.

Keywords: HIV; otosyphilis; syphilis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Potential conflicts of interest. All authors: No reported conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Syphilis stages. From Ghanem, Ram, and Rice [18]. Copyright © 2020. Massachusetts Medical Society. Reprinted with permission from Massachusetts Medical Society. CNS, Central Nervous System.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ramchandani MS, Litvack JR, Marra CM. Otosyphilis: a review of the literature. Sex Transm Dis 2020; 47:296–300. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ghanem KG, Moore RD, Rompalo AM, Erbelding EJ, Zenilman JM, Gebo KA. Neurosyphilis in a clinical cohort of HIV-1-infected patients. AIDS 2008; 22:1145–51. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Johns DR, Tierney M, Felsenstein D. Alteration in the natural history of neurosyphilis by concurrent infection with the human immunodeficiency virus. N Engl J Med 1987; 316:1569–72. - PubMed
    1. Lukehart SA, Hook EW, Baker-Zander SA, Collier AC, Critchlow CW, Handsfield HH. Invasion of the central nervous system by Treponema pallidum: implications for diagnosis and treatment. Ann Intern Med 1988; 109:855–62. - PubMed
    1. Carlson JA, Dabiri G, Cribier B, Sell S. The immunopathobiology of syphilis: the manifestations and course of syphilis are determined by the level of delayed-type hypersensitivity. Am J Dermatopathol 2011; 33:433–60. - PMC - PubMed