Neurosyphilis: A rare cause of encephalitis in a young male

Acute neurosyphilis is a rare but easily treatable cause of subacute confusion. Its clinical presentation is varied, with reported phenotypes ranging from acute stroke-like presentations to psychosis, dementia and meningoencephalitis. Neurosyphilis is easily detectable and treatable, despite its cli...

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Main Authors: William Cunningham, Michael Keogh, Nirmalan Arulanantham
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-05-01
Series:Clinical Medicine
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470211825000302
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author William Cunningham
Michael Keogh
Nirmalan Arulanantham
author_facet William Cunningham
Michael Keogh
Nirmalan Arulanantham
author_sort William Cunningham
collection DOAJ
description Acute neurosyphilis is a rare but easily treatable cause of subacute confusion. Its clinical presentation is varied, with reported phenotypes ranging from acute stroke-like presentations to psychosis, dementia and meningoencephalitis. Neurosyphilis is easily detectable and treatable, despite its clinical heterogeneity. We present a 45-year-old man without HIV presenting with a subacute encephalitis, with cerebrospinal fluid and blood markers strongly positive for syphilis, with clinical improvement following 2 weeks of empirical intravenous antibiotic therapy.
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spelling doaj-art-d1fe598317164341b6dc29a62819438a2025-08-20T03:19:56ZengElsevierClinical Medicine1470-21182025-05-0125310031210.1016/j.clinme.2025.100312Neurosyphilis: A rare cause of encephalitis in a young maleWilliam Cunningham0Michael Keogh1Nirmalan Arulanantham2Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Trust, Acute Medicine, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Glasgow, United KingdomNewcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Department of Neurology, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United KingdomNorth Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Trust, Department of Clinical Pharmacology and General Medicine, Carlisle CA2 7HY, United Kingdom; Corresponding author.Acute neurosyphilis is a rare but easily treatable cause of subacute confusion. Its clinical presentation is varied, with reported phenotypes ranging from acute stroke-like presentations to psychosis, dementia and meningoencephalitis. Neurosyphilis is easily detectable and treatable, despite its clinical heterogeneity. We present a 45-year-old man without HIV presenting with a subacute encephalitis, with cerebrospinal fluid and blood markers strongly positive for syphilis, with clinical improvement following 2 weeks of empirical intravenous antibiotic therapy.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470211825000302NeurosyphilsSyphilisEncephalitisAutoimune encephalitis
spellingShingle William Cunningham
Michael Keogh
Nirmalan Arulanantham
Neurosyphilis: A rare cause of encephalitis in a young male
Clinical Medicine
Neurosyphils
Syphilis
Encephalitis
Autoimune encephalitis
title Neurosyphilis: A rare cause of encephalitis in a young male
title_full Neurosyphilis: A rare cause of encephalitis in a young male
title_fullStr Neurosyphilis: A rare cause of encephalitis in a young male
title_full_unstemmed Neurosyphilis: A rare cause of encephalitis in a young male
title_short Neurosyphilis: A rare cause of encephalitis in a young male
title_sort neurosyphilis a rare cause of encephalitis in a young male
topic Neurosyphils
Syphilis
Encephalitis
Autoimune encephalitis
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470211825000302
work_keys_str_mv AT williamcunningham neurosyphilisararecauseofencephalitisinayoungmale
AT michaelkeogh neurosyphilisararecauseofencephalitisinayoungmale
AT nirmalanarulanantham neurosyphilisararecauseofencephalitisinayoungmale