Risk profiles of neurosyphilis in HIV-negative patients with primary, secondary and latent syphilis: Implications for clinical intervention
BACKGROUND:
Neurosyphilis
is one of the most feared complications of syphilis. The question of how to
identify patients at higher risk in order for timely intervention whilst
avoiding unnecessary lumbar puncture remains.
METHODS:
Between
August 2009 and March 2013, a total of 834 HIV-negative patients with primary,
secondary or latent syphilis were recruited. Venous blood and cerebrospinal
fluid specimens were collected for diagnoses of syphilis and/or neurosyphilis
and information of socio-demographic and behavioral characteristics was
collected by interviewing with a questionnaire.
RESULTS:
The
prevalence of neurosyphilis differed among patients with primary (7.1%),
secondary (23.8%) and latent (26.6%) syphilis. Neurosyphilis was more likely in
male patients (1.52-fold). Compared with patients aged <30 years, those aged
45-59 years and ≥60 years old had a 2.51-fold and 4.98-fold risk of
neurosyphilis respectively. Male gender and age ≥45 years were consistently
associated with neurosyphilis both in secondary and latent stage. There was a
2.68-fold, 2.55-fold and 3.67-fold increased risk of neurosyphilis when the
serum RPR titer was 1:32, 1:64 and ≥1:128 compared to that of ≤1:16. ).
CONCLUSIONS:
Male
gender and age 45 years are both correlated risk factors for neurosyphilis in
HIV-negative patients with primary, secondary and latent syphilis.
By: Shi M1, Peng RR1, Gao Z1,2, Zhang S1,2, Lu H1, Guan Z1, Gao Y1, Wang C1, Zhou P1,2.
- 1Department of Sexually Transmitted Disease Institute, Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, Shanghai, China.
- 2Clinical School of Anhui Medical University, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
No comments:
Post a Comment