ArticleJournal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry2004
Neurosyphilis in the modern era.
Article in Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry, 2004. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
51 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 256 citations in OpenAlex.
- Antibiotic therapy for adults with neurosyphilis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Neurosyphilis in Africa: A systematic review.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2017Pooled it
- Epilepsy and syphilis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Indian journal of dermatology, venereology and leprologyPooled it
- Syphilis and cerebral stroke: a case report and systematic review.Neurological research and practice · 2026Article
- Metagenomic next-generation sequencing assists in identifying neurosyphilis: a case series.Infection · 2026Article
- Markedly Elevated IgG Index: A Key to Differentiating Neurosyphilis from Autoimmune Limbic Encephalitis.Internal medicine (Tokyo, Japan) · 2025Article
- Profile of Neurosyphilis Patients Admitted to a Tertiary Care Centre of Nepal: An Observational Study.JNMA; journal of the Nepal Medical Association · 2025Observational
- Cerebral syphilitic gumma misdiagnosed as brain abscess: A case report.World journal of clinical cases · 2024Article
- Southern African HIV Clinicians Society Guideline for the clinical management of syphilis.Southern African journal of HIV medicine · 2024Article
- Article
- Neurosyphilis with ocular involvement and normal magnetic resonance imaging results affirmed by metagenomic next-generation sequencing.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022Review
- Neurosyphilis: a series of 178 cases at the 3rd-level hospital of Marrakesh (Morocco).European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2021Article
- Analysis of Fourteen New Cases of Meningovascular Syphilis: Renewed Interest in an Old Problem.Cureus · 2021Article
- The associations of increased cerebral small vessel disease with cognitive impairment in neurosyphilis presenting with ischemic stroke.Brain and behavior · 2021Article
- Syphilis Laboratory Guidelines: Performance Characteristics of Nontreponemal Antibody Tests.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2020Review
- Clinical Presentation of Laboratory Confirmed Neurosyphilis in a Recent Cases Series.Clinical neuropsychiatry · 2019Article
- Medullary involvement in neurosyphilis: a report of 12 cases and a review of the literature.Spinal cord series and cases · 2019Review
- Psychotic mania as the solitary manifestation of neurosyphilis.Annals of general psychiatry · 2018Article
- Early neurosyphilis presenting with facial palsy and an oral ulcer in a patient who is human immunodeficiency virus positive: a case report.Journal of medical case reports · 2017Article
- Orofacial Involuntary Movements in Neurosyphilis: Beyond the Candy Sign.Tremor and other hyperkinetic movements (New York, N.Y.) · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo review the nature of the presentation of neurosyphilis, the value of diagnostic tests, and the classification of the disease.
methodsA retrospective review was carried out of the records of patients who had been identified as possible cases of neurosyphilis by a positive FTA-abs test in the CSF. The review extended over 10 years at a single hospital which served a population of mixed ancestry in a defined catchment area in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Patients were placed in predefined diagnostic categories, and clinical, radiological, and laboratory features were assessed.
results161 patients met diagnostic criteria for neurosyphilis: 82 presented with combinations of delirium and dementia and other neuropsychiatric conditions, and the remainder had typical presentations such as stroke (24), spinal cord disease (15), and seizures (14). The average age of presentation ranged from 35.9 to 42.6 years in the different categories of neurosyphilis. Of those followed up, 77% had residual deficits from their initial illness. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) VDRL was positive in 73% of cases.
conclusionsThe diagnosis of neurosyphilis can be made with reasonable certainty if there is an appropriate neuropsychiatric syndrome associated with a positive CSF VDRL. If the VDRL is negative, a positive FTA-abs in an appropriate clinical setting, associated with raised CSF cell count, protein, or IgG index, is a useful method of identifying neurosyphilis. Tabes dorsalis has become uncommon, but this is likely to be the only manifestation of neurosyphilis that has been altered during the antibiotic era.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.