Syphilitic Posterior Uveitis: Correlative Findings and Significance
Twenty-one patients with syphilitic posterior uveitis were investigated retrospectively to study the disease spectrum, associations with neurosyphilis, and therapeutic implications. Ophthalmologic manifestations of syphilitic posterior uveitis are differentiated into acute and chronic uveitides. The...
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Published in | Clinical infectious diseases Vol. 32; no. 12; pp. 1661 - 1673 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Chicago, IL
The University of Chicago Press
15.06.2001
University of Chicago Press |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Twenty-one patients with syphilitic posterior uveitis were investigated retrospectively to study the disease spectrum, associations with neurosyphilis, and therapeutic implications. Ophthalmologic manifestations of syphilitic posterior uveitis are differentiated into acute and chronic uveitides. The several distinct acute uveitic syndromes are usually florid and are associated with early syphilis, with VDRL-positive syphilitic meningitis, and frequently with human immunodeficiency virus coinfection. The chronic posterior uveitides are often insidious, a manifestation of late syphilis, and associated commonly with subclinical neurosyphilis. All patients with acute cases and 54% of patients with chronic cases in our study received penicillin therapy appropriate for neurosyphilis. The frequent association of syphilitic posterior uveitis with neurosyphilis and the analogous spirochetal sequestration beyond the blood-brain and the blood-ocular barriers suggest that all patients with syphilitic posterior uveitis, irrespective of ocular disease intensity, should undergo evaluation of cerebrospinal fluid and be treated with penicillin regimens appropriate for neurosyphilis. |
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Bibliography: | istex:06861510F692B5E1B28516D3A7238DDA81A1FCCC Reprints or correspondence: Dr. L. David Ormerod, Mason Eye Institute, One Hospital Dr., Columbia, MO 65212. ark:/67375/HXZ-LT6W3J2P-P Presented in part: Annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, San Francisco, November 1994; combined meeting of Club Jules Gonin and the Retina Society, Bern, Switzerland, September 1996; and XI Congress of the European Society of Ophthalmology, Budapest, June 1997. ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Case Study-2 ObjectType-Feature-4 ObjectType-Report-1 ObjectType-Article-3 |
ISSN: | 1058-4838 1537-6591 |
DOI: | 10.1086/320766 |