Gastric Lesions Associated with Secondary Syphilis; a case suspected of gastric sarcoma by X-ray and endoscope

Gastric Lesions Associated with Secondary Syphilis; a case suspected of gastric sarcoma by X-ray and endoscope

Although numerous cases have been diagnosed as tertiary syphilis of the stomach, as judged from the reports in the world literature, gastric involvement of secondary syphilis is said to be extremely rare. The present paper concerns a patient who was initially diagnosed as gastric sarcoma by X-ray and gastrofiberscope, and who was eventually confirmed to have secondary gastric syphilis by direct-vision gastrofiberscopic biopsy.

　(1) A case of gastric involvement associated with secondary syphilis was presented.

　(2) X-ray and gastrofiberscopic examination initially revealed questionable findings of gastric sarcoma, but direct-vision gastrofiberscopic biopsy eventually disclosed characteristic findings of secondary syphilis with plasma cell infiltration in the submucosa of the stomach.

　(3) Gastric lesions disappeared almost completely after treatment.

　(4) Our observation appears to form the basis for the concepts of “visceral roseola”, as Rudneiff observed, at autopsy, syphilitic lesions of the gastric mucosa in a patient who died during the secondary stage of syphilis.

　(Great thanks are to our teacher Dr. hikoo Shirakabe, Associate Professor of The 1st Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Chiba University, who gabe a opportunity to present the paper and useful advice to us.)