Neurosyphilis Gumma Misdiagnosed as Brain Abscess: [RETRACTED

Abstract

Objective: To explore the diagnostic essentials of neurosyphilis (NS) gumma, and to decrease the misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis rates of this disease by enriching the physicians with characteristic knowledge of NS. Methods: The clinical diagnosis and treatment of a patient with NS gumma were reported. The clinical manifestations, classification, and diagnostic points were analyzed retrospectively. Results: The patient was admitted to the hospital with fever and limb weakness. Brain magnetic resonance imaging showed multiple space-occupying lesions and positive serum Treponema pallidum gelatin agglutination test. The patient was misdiagnosed as having a brain abscess and underwent a craniotomy. The postoperative pathologic diagnosis was syphilis gumma. The patient was improved and discharged after penicillin anti-syphilis treatment, and the follow-up recovery was satisfactory. Conclusion: Neurosyphilis gumma is rare in clinical practice, and the clinical manifestations, imaging examination, and serological examination lack specificity, which is often misdiagnosed and missed. Clinical diagnosis should be considered in combination with multiple examinations such as clinical features of patients, positive serological tests for syphilis, elevated cerebrospinal fluid cell counts and protein quantification, imaging examination, and postoperative pathologic examination.