In recent years, the prevalence of syphilis has become a social concern, and the number of patients has been increasing throughout Japan. Our hospital is in the center of Osaka, and over the past 6 years, we have diagnosed 10 cases of syphilis at our department. Of the 10 patients, 9 were male and 1 was female, with a median age of 30.5 years. The chief complaints were persistent tonsillitis/pharyngitis in 7 cases, induration of the upper lip in 1 case, and left cervical swelling in 2 cases. One case with a chief complaint of cervical swelling had a suspicious mass lesion in the left oropharynx, which required to be differentiated from malignant lymphoma and oropharyngeal cancer.
Resistance of T. pallidum, the causative bacterium of syphilis, to penicillin has not been observed until date, and syphilis can be completely cured if treated appropriately. However, its progression has irreversible effects on the body. Diagnosis is difficult because of the incubation period and the variety of symptoms. It is important to consider the possibility that commonly encountered symptoms such as tonsillitis/pharyngitis, lymph node swelling, and lip induration may be caused by syphilis, and to perform a screening test when findings specific to syphilis are observed.
