title: Syphilis manifesting as a nasopharyngeal carcinoma with cervical lymphadenopathy: A case report.
abstract: The present case report describes a case of syphilitic lymphadenopathy and raises the awareness of the differential diagnosis of cervical lymphadenopathy. A 50-year-old male worker presented with a 6-month history of enlarged and growing lymph nodes in the right upper neck and a blood-tinged post-nasal drip. Physical examination showed multiple enlarged lymph nodes located in the right upper neck. On nasopharyngoscopy, a mass was found in the nasopharynx. The histopathology of both the nasopharyngeal mass and the enlarged lymph nodes revealed non-specific inflammation. Rapid plasma reagin test results (titer, 1:1280) and Treponema pallidum particle assay results (titer, 1:2560) were positive. Subsequently, a diagnosis of syphilis was confirmed clinically and serologically. The reaction after penicillin treatment further confirmed the syphilis diagnosis. Thus, syphilis should be considered as a possibility in the differential diagnosis of cervical lymphadenopathy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi 530021,  P.R. China ;
authors.forename: Xinbin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Qingdi Quentin
authors.initials: QQ
authors.lastname: Li