Congenital syphilis: unique clinical presentation in three preterm newborns.
Three preterm newborns affected by congenital syphilis, born to mothers not adequately treated during pregnancy, are described. The clinical picture is characterized by a severe cholestatic hepatopathy and, in the two surviving patients, by an unusually wide ischemic-hemorrhagic lesion of the cerebral parenchyma. This lesion is probably due to a syphilitic endarteritis, and has rarely been described before in preterm infants.
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Department of Critical Care Medicine, University Careggi Hospital, Florence, Italy. filippi.luca@virgilio.it
Luca
L
Filippi
Lisa
L
Serafini
Carlo
C
Dani
Giovanna
G
Bertini
Marco
M
Pezzati
Michele
M
Tronchin
Firmino F
FF
Rubaltelli
D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D002780:Cholestasis, Intrahepatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D013590:Syphilis, Congenital / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D014463:Ultrasonography