Secondary syphilis presenting as a corymbiform syphilide: case report and review

• Main Authors: Walter de Araujo Eyer-Silva, Viviane Primo Basílio de Souza, Guilherme Almeida Rosa da Silva, Fernando Vieira Brasil, Alessandra dos Santos Portela, Ricardo de Souza Carvalho, Rogerio Neves-Motta, Carlos José Martins
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade de São Paulo 2018-08-01
• Series: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
• Subjects: Corymbiform; Corymbose; HIV infection; Syphilis
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0036-46652018005000504&lng=en&tlng=en

ABSTRACT It is essential that healthcare providers are familiar with the full spectrum of clinical presentations of syphilis. A rare manifestation of secondary syphilis is the corymbiform (or corymbose) arrangement, in which a central greater papule is surrounded by smaller satellite lesions. Very few reports of corymbiform syphilis are available in current biomedical databases. We present the case of a 28 year-old HIV-infected male patient on regular, successful antiretroviral therapy who developed an asymptomatic corymbiform maculopapular lesion in the medial aspect of the right thigh. There were also a few brownish macular lesions on the left sole. New serological tests for syphilis (which had been negative in the past) were reactive. The coymbiform lesion slowly regressed and the non-treponemal test reverted to negative after benzathine penicillin G treatment. A review of the literature is provided. This is the first report of corymbiform syphilis in an HIV-infected patient.