Clinical and laboratory features of neurosyphilis: A single-center, retrospective study of 402 patients

Abstract

Neurosyphilis is a serious global health issue and a big challenge in developing countries, related risk factors should be taken seriously. Although there are a certain number of studies describing the clinical and laboratory features and risk factors for symptomatic neurosyphilis (SNS), but some risk factors are still controversial. The aim of this research is to investigate the association between asymptomatic neurosyphilis (ANS) and symptomatic neurosyphilis (SNS) and identify risk factors for SNS. This was a single-center retrospective study in a tertiary hospital in Hangzhou, China. The clinical and laboratory features of neurosyphilis patients from January 1, 2011 to July 31, 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. After detailed assessments based on diagnostic criteria, 402 patients with neurosyphilis were enrolled in this study. There were 299 male and 103 female patients. The median age was 53.5 (45, 61) years. Multivariable logistic regression displayed that SNS were correlated with the following factors: male, without anti-syphilis treatment, high pretreatment serum RPR titer and positive CSF RPR. Our findings suggest a potential association between SNS and specific factors, including male gender, elevated pretreatment serum and CSF RPR titers. Moreover, our observations indicate that individuals without anti-syphilis treatment may be at a higher likelihood of manifesting the symptomatic form. This underscores the importance of considering gender, RPR titers, and treatment status as significant contributors to the risk profile for SNS.

Keywords

• Neurosyphilis
• Symptomatic neurosyphilis
• Asymptomatic neurosyphilis
• Risk factors
• Retrospective study