Psychosis or Simply a New Manifestation of Neurosyphilis?

A Case Report of Neurosyphilis Limbic Encephalitis With Reversible Geschwind Syndrome and Mood Disorder

Limbic encephalitis is an inflammatory process of the limbic structures, with polymorphic clinical features, caused by paraneoplastic and nonparaneoplastic conditions and infections. We describe a case of neurosyphilis limbic encephalitis, presenting with reversible Geschwind syndrome (hyperreligiosity and hypergraphia) and mood disorder due to the predominant involvement of left mesial temporal structures in a previously healthy 34-year-old, left-handed woman. Because neurosyphilis can mimic common neuropsychiatric syndromes, it should be included in the differential diagnosis of psychiatric disorders with suspected general medical causes. This case of nondominant limbic encephalopathy caused by syphilis infection highlights the relevance of a careful investigation for secondary psychotic, mood, and personality disorders when assessing new-onset psychiatric illness and the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to provide a better outcome in patients with neurosyphilis.

Neuropsychiatric Features of Neurosyphilis: Frequency, Relationship with the Severity of Cognitive Impairment and Comparison with Alzheimer Disease

BACKGROUND

The pattern of neuropsychiatric features of patients with neurosyphilis and the impact of the severity of cognitive impairment on neuropsychiatric syndromes are unknown.

OBJECTIVE

We aim to assess the neuropsychiatric features of patients with neurosyphilis, and compare the impact of the severity of cognitive impairment on the neuropsychiatric syndromes between neurosyphilis and Alzheimer disease (AD).

METHODS

Neuropsychiatric symptoms and the degree of cognitive impairment were assessed in a case-control study of 91 neurosyphilis, 162 AD, 157 mild cognitive impairment, and 139 normal controls by the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) scale and Clinical Dementia Rating scale, respectively. Factor analysis was performed on the 12 NPI items.

RESULTS

Factor analysis showed that patients with neurosyphilis showed more severe neuropsychiatric syndromes at the dementia stage than those neurosyphilis patients at the mild cognitive impairment stage, while neuropsychiatric manifestations were equally common among the different stages of dementia (all p < 0.05). Frontal lobe syndrome was more severe in patients with neurosyphilis than in patients with AD from the early mild cognitive impairment stage to the moderate dementia stage (all p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with neurosyphilis show different patterns of neuropsychiatric syndromes at the mild cognitive impairment and dementia stages, and differ from patients with AD.

The big imitator strikes again: a case report of neurosyphilis in a patient with newly diagnosed HIV

BACKGROUND

Neurosyphilis is the result of an infection of the central nervous system caused by the spirochete Treponema pallidum. Its clinical presentation includes meningovascular syphilis, tabes dorsalis, and dementia paralytica, resulting in a wide range of symptoms such as psychosis, Parkinsonism, and depression.

CASE REPORT

A 49-year-old male was admitted to a psychiatric hospital because of social withdrawal and self-neglect, indicative of a major depression. A routine HIV-test was positive and resulted in an admission to the Antwerp University Hospital. Clinical examination showed Argyll Robertson pupils, a wide-based gait, absence of vibration sense in the lower limbs, and a MMSE-score of 25/30. Blood analysis revealed a CD4+ count of 99 cells/μL and a HIV viral load of 2,13 × 10⁵ copies/mL plasma. A serum TPHA (T. pallidum hemagglutination assay) titre of 1/20480 and RPR (rapid plasma reagin) titre of 1/128 were detected. TPHA and RPR titre in the cerebrospinal fluid were, respectively, 1/10240 and 1/4. A brain MRI showed diffuse cortical atrophy and lesions in the white matter compatible with HIV-encephalopathy. The diagnoses of advanced HIV-infection and late neurosyphilis were made. HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy) and high-dose IV penicillin G were started.

CONCLUSION

In all patients with new-onset dementia or untreatable psychosis, neurosyphilis should always be considered. Argyll Robertson pupils are regarded as pathognomonic of neurosyphilis. The management of neurosyphilis includes high-dose IV benzyl penicillin for 10 to 14 days. Close follow-up including a lumbar puncture after 6 months is warranted to ensure treatment recovery.

Neurosyphilis with psychotic symptoms and Parkinsonism in a young girl

A 15-year-old girl with neurosyphilis was misdiagnosed as having viral encephalitis with psychotic symptoms and Parkinsonism. We found that she was experiencing visual hallucinations, persecutory delusions, flattening of affect, poorness of thought, tremors, four-limb rigidity, and restlessness, and she was unable to communicate with others. The Venereal Disease Research Laboratory serum test and further lumbar puncture enabled us to diagnose her with neurosyphilis. After antibiotic treatment, her psychotic symptoms and Parkinsonism were relieved. From this case, we believe that it is important to keep organic psychosis in mind during the diagnostic workup, and we argue that routine syphilis screening is necessary in psychiatry clinical practice.

Psychosis in neurosyphilis -- clinical aspects and implications

BACKGROUND

The World Health Organization estimates that 10-12 million new syphilis infections occur each year. Without treatment, years to decades after initial infection, 30% of affected individuals may develop tertiary syphilis, which can manifest as neurosyphilis. The aim of this review is to evaluate the research literature examining the psychopathological manifestations of psychosis in association with neurosyphilis.

METHOD

The authors performed a systematic electronic search for published studies (1995-2012). The following databases were used: Medline, Embase and the Cochrane Library as well as the search engines Scopus and Google Scholar.

RESULTS

61 articles were used for detailed analysis. Psychotic symptoms due to neurosyphilis are numerous and can inform differential diagnosis for many psychotic manifestations according to ICD-10 or DSM-IV.

CONCLUSION

Due to our results, current epidemiological data, and the difficulties in differential diagnosis of neurosyphilis, routine screening tests are still recommended in the psychiatric field. Long-term psychiatric input, with periodic syphilis titre controls, seems indicated in individuals affected by neurosyphilis with psychiatric symptoms. Furthermore, individuals with mental health problems may be at higher risk of acquiring syphilis.

Clinical spectrum of neurosyphilis among HIV-negative patients in the modern era

BACKGROUND

The clinical spectrum of neurosyphilis (NS) has changed over time.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the clinical spectrum and characteristics of NS in HIV-negative patients.

METHODS

A retrospective chart review was performed for 149 in patients with NS.

RESULT

All patients were >25 years old, including 16.8% asymptomatic for NS, 15.4% with syphilitic meningitis, 24.2% with meningovascular NS, 38.9% with general paresis, 4.0% with tabes dorsalis and 0.7% with gummatous NS. The original misdiagnosis rate was 84.6%. All 149 patients had positive serum Treponema pallidum particle agglutination (TPPA) and rapid plasma reagin (RPR). The overall positive rates of cerebrospinal fluid RPR (CSF-RPR) and CSF-TPPA were 57.0 and 89.9%, respectively. CSF pleocytosis and elevated CSF protein were found in 40.3% of patients. Nonspecific abnormal brain magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography findings were present in 60.4 and 54.8% of NS patients, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

NS has various clinical manifestations, laboratory findings and magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography findings, but all studies lack specificity. Every patient with neurological or psychiatric symptoms that are without unambiguous causes should have blood tests for syphilis. When serology proves positive, patients should undergo CSF examination.

Neurosyphilis presenting with psychotic symptoms and status epilepticus

The widespread use of antibiotics in recent years has considerably modified the clinical features of neurosyphilis. Presently, atypical or masked forms of this disease often occur and obscure diagnosis, despite a thorough history and clinical work-up. Here, we report a patient with neurosyphilis presenting with psychotic symptoms who then developed status epilepticus and left limb weakness. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging showed hyperintensity involving the right parietal, occipital and temporal lobes and the thalamus. Subsequent serological and cerebrospinal fluid tests confirmed the diagnosis of neurosyphilis. The coexistence of meningovascular syphilis, syphilitic meningitis, and general paresis resulted in the complex manifestation of this patients' condition, as described here in terms of the unusual presentation, evolution, and final diagnosis.

An unusual presentation of neurosyphilis as a probable migraine

We describe a case which initially presented as persistent and untreatable probable migraine, which was subsequently diagnosed as neurosyphilis during the clinical evaluation. All symptoms regressed after appropriate treatment. We suggest that the possibility of neurosyphilis should be taken into account in the differential diagnosis of a persistent headache which does not respond to medication.