title: Liver involvement in HIV-infected patients diagnosed with syphilis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Liver involvement in syphilis has been studied in cohorts of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative individuals despite the scarcity of data on such HIV-infected patients. Th aim of this study was to assess hepatic involvement of HIV-infected patients diagnosed with syphilis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with syphilis and liver involvement, including all stages of syphilis, were systematically identified in our HIV cohort between 2004 and 2008.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 1,599 HIV-infected patients identified during the study period, 100 were diagnosed with acute syphilis, all of whom were male. Of these 100 patients, 84% were men who have sex with men. Laboratory parameters of liver involvement were present in 19 of the 100 HIV-infected patients with syphilis; these resolved after successful antibiotic treatment. Among these 19 patients, six were diagnosed to be in the latent stage, with elevated liver enzymes and parameters of inflammation representing the only distinctive feature.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on our results, syphilis should be included in the differential diagnosis of increased liver enzymes in HIV-infected patients.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, Medical Hospital of the University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. norma.jung@uk-koeln.de
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kümmerle
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Brengelmann
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gielen
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lehmann
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wyen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Birtel
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gillor
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Vehreschild
authors.forename: O A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Cornely
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fätkenheuer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000201:enzymology / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000201:enzymology / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000821:virology; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013587:Syphilis / Q000150:complications / Q000201:enzymology / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*