title: Clinical and laboratory characteristics in patients suffering from general paresis in the modern era.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  No gold standard currently exists for the diagnosis of general paresis (GP), thus often resulting in unnecessarily delayed therapeutic decision.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective chart review was performed for 85 inpatients with GP in Zhongshan Hospital, Medical College of Xiamen University, and the characteristics of their clinical profiles, serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examinations, neuroimaging examination, and electroencephalogram (EEG) data were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 85 GP patients, the clinical symptoms that were frequently observed upon admission included a variety of psychiatric-behavioral symptoms and varying degrees of cognitive impairment. All of the patients had positive serum Treponema pallidum particle agglutination (TPPA) assays, 96.47% of the patients had positive CSF TPPA assays, and 41.18% of the patients had both CSF pleocytosis and elevated CSF protein levels. Focal atrophy in one cerebral region or in multiple regions was evident in neuroimages. The EEG data primarily showed slightly abnormal EEG activity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results demonstrate the complexity of the clinical characteristics of GP and highlight the importance of early diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan Hospital, Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen 361004, China.
authors.forename: Yu-Yan
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan Hospital, Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen 361004, China.
authors.forename: Ya-Feng
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan Hospital, Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen 361004, China.
authors.forename: Xin-Hui
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan Hospital, Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen 361004, China.
authors.forename: Qiao
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
authors.forename: Fu-Yi
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biology, College of Science, National University of Defense and Technology, Changsha, China.
authors.forename: Long
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan Hospital, Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen 361004, China.
authors.forename: Jin-Yi
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan Hospital, Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen 361004, China.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan Hospital, Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen 361004, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Zhen
authors.initials: XZ
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan Hospital, Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen 361004, China.
authors.forename: Wei-Hong
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan Hospital, Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen 361004, China.
authors.forename: Hui-Lin
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan Hospital, Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen 361004, China.
authors.forename: Li-Rong
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan Hospital, Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen 361004, China.
authors.forename: Li-Li
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan Hospital, Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen 361004, China.
authors.forename: Man-Li
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan Hospital, Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen 361004, China. Electronic address: niujianjun211@xmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jian-Jun
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan Hospital, Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen 361004, China; ShenZhen Research Institute of Xiamen University, Shenzhen, China. Electronic address: yangtianci@xmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Tian-Ci
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000639:trends; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009494:Neurosyphilis / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000639:trends; D014210:Treponema pallidum / Q000302:isolation & purification*
keywords: Cerebrospinal fluid; Clinical presentation; Diagnostic criteria; General paresis; Laboratory characteristics; Neurosyphilis