Cerebral Syphilitic Gumma within 5 Months of Syphilis in HIV-Infected Patient

摘要

To the Editor: Tertiary syphilis, including cerebral syphilitic gumma, usually occurs >10 years after contracting syphilis (1) and is a rare manifestation since the introduction of penicillin (2). However, progression of syphilis is reported to be faster in HIV-infected patients than in those without such infections (3). We report a case of cerebral syphilitic gumma in an HIV-1–infected patient for whom serum samples obtained as recently as 5 months earlier showed negative results for syphilis.