SynthesisNeurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology2026
Neurosyphilis presenting as ocular motor nerve palsy: two cases and a systematic literature review.
Synthesis in Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNeurosyphilis is an infectious disease of the central nervous system (CNS) caused by Treponema pallidum, which presents with a wide variety of symptoms depending on the affected CNS structures. We describe two cases of neurosyphilis with ocular motor nerve palsy (OMNP) defined as palsy involving cranial nerves (CNs) III, IV, and/or VI, and provide a systemic review of the literature on OMNP associated with neurosyphilis.
methodsWe describe two patients who presented with unilateral palsy of CN III caused by neurosyphilis. We performed a systematic literature search according to PRISMA guidelines, for all patients with neurosyphilis presenting as OMNP and with available clinical data.
resultsCase 1 presented with left pupil-involving CN III palsy and enhancement of the left CN III in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and recovered completely after intravenous penicillin and steroid. Case 2 showed bilateral optic atrophy and right pupil-involving CN III palsy, and exhibited partial recovery after intravenous penicillin and steroid. We screened 55 studies, and finally included 31 articles involving 43 patients. Unilateral single OMNP involving CN III or VI was the most common type (n = 30, 70%), but unilateral multiple OMNP (n = 5, 12%) and bilateral OMNP (n = 8, 19%) were also present. Overall, CN III (n = 28, 65%) was the most commonly involved ocular motor nerve (OMN), followed by CN VI (n = 22, 51%) and CN IV (n = 4, 8%). About half (n = 20, 47%) of the patients exhibited other neurological deficits concomitantly with OMNP. Brain MRI showed abnormalities that could be responsible for OMNP, including enlargement or enhancement of the OMN itself, T2-weighted hyperintensity within the brainstem, and enhanced masses in the cavernous sinus, pons, and clivus. Most patients achieved complete (n = 21/40, 53%) or partial (n = 13/40, 33%) recovery from OMNP after intravenous or intramuscular penicillin treatment. DISCUSSION: Since early diagnosis and correct treatment of neurosyphilis are essential before irreversible damage occurs in the CNS, clinicians should pay attention to neurosyphilis as a potential cause of OMNP.
Indexed as
Identifiers
41792540What 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.