ArticleEuropean journal of medical research2015
Syphilis and neurosyphilis: HIV-coinfection and value of diagnostic parameters in cerebrospinal fluid.
Article in European journal of medical research, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Performance of the nontreponemal tests and treponemal tests on cerebrospinal fluid for the diagnosis of neurosyphilis: A meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Efficacy and Safety of Treatments for Different Stages of Syphilis: a Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials and Observational Studies.Microbiology spectrum · 2022Pooled it
- Diagnostic tools for neurosyphilis: a systematic review.BMC infectious diseases · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Establishment of non-invasive diagnostic prediction model for HIV-positive asymptomatic neurosyphilis patients.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Atypical Dermatological Manifestations of Syphilis in Advanced HIV: A Case-Based Narrative Review.Mediterranean journal of hematology and infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Looks Like Neurosyphilis, Feels Like Guillain-Barre: At the Confluence of Infection and Immunology.Cureus · 2022Article
- Bilateral Cranial Nerve VI Palsies in Cryptococcal Meningitis, HIV, and Syphilis: A Case Report.Clinical practice and cases in emergency medicine · 2021Article
- Multiple Spinal Syphilitic Gummas Diagnosed by Postoperative Histopathology and Antibiotic Responsiveness: A Case Report.NMC case report journal · 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 prediction and diagnosis of neurosyphilis in HIV-negative patients: a case-control study.BMC infectious diseases · 2019Article
- Diagnostic Issues of Asymptomatic Neurosyphilis in HIV-Positive Patients: A Retrospective Study.Brain sciences · 2019Article
- Consider Syphilis in Case of Lymphopenia in HIV-Infected Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM): A Single-center, Retrospective Study.Infectious diseases and therapy · 2018Article
- Article
- Incidence of asymptomatic neurosyphilis in serofast Chinese syphilis patients.Scientific reports · 2017Observational
- Global challenges in human immunodeficiency virus and syphilis coinfection among men who have sex with men.Expert review of anti-infective therapy · 2016Review
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNeurosyphilis might be difficult to diagnose particularly in asymptomatic patients and patients with HIV-coinfection. The objective of this study was to evaluate current diagnostic standards for neurosyphilis in HIV-positive and -negative patients.
methodsWe studied retrospectively patients with an active syphilis infection who had additionally undergone lumbar puncture. Patients where the criteria for the diagnosis of a definite or probable neurosyphilis were applicable were further analyzed for clinical symptoms, CSF, HIV-status as well as Treponema pallidum testing in serum and CSF. Correlation analysis of categorical variables was done by using the Chi-square test or in cases of small sample sizes the exact test of Fisher. p values ≤0.05 were considered significant.
resultsEighty-nine patients were diagnosed with syphilis. All necessary criteria for the diagnosis of a neurosyphilis were available in 67 of them including 35 HIV-positive and 32 HIV-negative patients. A definite neurosyphilis could be retrospectively diagnosed in 13 and a probable in another 25 cases. Normal CSF results were more likely in HIV-negatives (p = 0.016). A neurosyphilis was correlated to a CSF pleocytosis > 5 cells/µl and to an albumin quotient >7.8 mg/dl regardless of a parallel HIV infection. HIV-positives had more frequently a CSF-RPR titre >1:4 than HIV-negatives (p = 0.031). However, the RPR test in CSF in definite or probable neurosyphilis had a sensitivity of only 21 %. DISCUSSION: Our data show that a pleocytosis and an elevated albumin quotient correlate with neurosyphilis. However, the CSF-RPR test as gold standard in neurosyphilis diagnostics has a very low sensitivity.
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