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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Med.
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Pathogenesis and Therapy
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1448698

Cerebral syphilitic gumma: a case retrospective report of 8 cases

Provisionally accepted
Jun Liu Jun Liu *Wenjun Zhang Wenjun Zhang Qiuhua Jiang Qiuhua Jiang Qianliang Huang Qianliang Huang Xinyun Ye Xinyun Ye *
  • Nanchang University, Nanchang, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Cerebral syphilitic gumma (CSG), a rare manifestation of neurosyphilis, presents characteristics akin to intracranial tumors, often leading to clinical misdiagnosis.This study aimed to summarize the clinical experience in diagnosing and treating CSG.The present study conducted a retrospective analysis of clinical data, encompassing the baseline characteristics, clinical presentation, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of eight patients with CSG who were treated and diagnosed by our institution.The median age at the initial diagnosis was 57.5 years, comprising six males and two females. The predominant clinical manifestations included headaches in eight cases, motor and sensory disorders in four cases, epileptic seizures in one case, and dysarthria in one patient. The serum treponema pallidum haemagglutination assay (TPHA) and toluidine red unheated serum test (TRUST) yielded positive in all eight patients. The contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed irregular ring-shaped enhancement of lesions in three patients, while nodular enhancement of lesions was observed in five patients. In terms of treatment, seven patients underwent surgery. The postoperative pathological tissue showed granulomatous inflammation. Six patients exhibited an elevated protein concentration in their cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), while two patients demonstrated a reduced CSF glucose level. Additionally, positive results were obtained for both CSF TPHA and TRUST in all eight patients. The clinical diagnosis of CSG was confirmed in eight patients who exhibited notable clinical improvement following penicillin treatment. Subsequent reevaluation of the imaging findings demonstrated complete resolution of the enhanced lesions.In clinical practice, CSG should be considered for patients with intracranial lesions and positive serum syphilis antibodies. Timely and accurate diagnosis enables patients with CSG to achieve a more favorable prognosis through active anti-syphilis treatment.

    Keywords: cerebral syphilitic gumma, Treponema pallidum, case series, Clinical feature, Diagnostic and treatment strategies

    Received: 22 Jun 2024; Accepted: 05 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Liu, Zhang, Jiang, Huang and Ye. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Jun Liu, Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
    Xinyun Ye, Nanchang University, Nanchang, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.