ORAL MANIFESTATION OF PRIMARY SYPHILIS

Abstract

Syphilis is a bacterial infection caused by <i>Treponema pallidum</i>, which can be transmitted mainly through unprotected sexual contact or vertical transmission. This disease can manifest itself in the primary, secondary, and tertiary stages. The most important laboratory tests for diagnosis are treponemic and nontreponemic tests. A 23-year-old male patient attended the oral medicine clinic reporting an asymptomatic upper lip vermilion lesion. The physical examination revealed an ulcerated lesion with a clear base in the vermilion of the upper lip, on the right side, of approximately 1.0 cm. Clinically, the diagnostic hypothesis was chancre. Incisional biopsy and serological tests for syphilis and human immunodeficiency virus were performed. The histopathologic examination confirmed the diagnostic hypothesis, and the tests obtained positive results only for syphilis. Treatment was performed with a single dose of benzathine penicillin and the lesion regressed, testing negative in the Venereal Disease Research Laboratory after 3 months.