title: Extensive annular verrucous late secondary syphilis.
abstract: We report an illustrative case of an apparently healthy 38-year-old man with a past history of alopecia universalis who developed extensive, slightly pruritic, infiltrated annular verrucous lesions of the scalp, perioral, lumbar, perianal and genital areas over a 6-month period. The combination of an unusual clinical presentation, positive syphilis serology and rapid response to penicillin therapy was consistent with a diagnosis of extensive annular and verrucous late secondary syphilis. We present this case to illustrate a rare and potentially misleading clinical feature of late secondary syphilis, a disease considered to be of the past but still present in today's practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Geneva University Medical School, 24 rue Micheli-du-Crest, 1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland.
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Pournaras
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Masouye
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Piletta
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Piguet
authors.forename: J-H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Saurat
authors.forename: L E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: French
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000505:Alopecia / Q000150:complications; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010401:Penicillin G Benzathine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011241:Prednisone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology*; D013588:Syphilis Serodiagnosis; D013591:Syphilis, Cutaneous / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D005938:Glucocorticoids; D010401:Penicillin G Benzathine; D011241:Prednisone