Neurosyphilis: Neither Gone nor Forgotten

Within days of a patient contracting syphilis, the infection can spread to the central nervous system (CNS) via the bloodstream; manifestations include meningovascular disease early on and general paresis and personality change decades later. To describe the clinical course of symptomatic early neurosyphilis and to better characterize the risk for this illness among HIV-infected men who have sex with men (MSM), CDC investigators reviewed health department records from Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, and New York from January 2002 through June 2004.

Of 170 possible cases of neurosyphilis identified, 121 met the CDC surveillance case definition for confirmed neurosyphilis, and 26 met the definition for probable disease. Two thirds of these pa…