Resumen

RIVERA, Enzo; CODJAMBASSIS, Ludwig  y  CABELLO, Francisco. Neurosyphilis: A report of Nineteen Case Studies from Valparaiso, Chile. Rev. chil. neuro-psiquiatr. [online]. 2002, vol.40, n.3, pp.253-257. ISSN 0717-9227.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0717-92272002000300007.

National literature records few studies on the clinical aspects of neurosyphilis. Reports of this disease have increased over the last decade. Our aim is to describe the main clinical findings of 19 HIV-free patients hospitalized in Carlos van Buren Hospital (Valparaiso) from 1982 to 1998. Ninety-four percent were male, with an average age of 51. Twenty-one percent reported a history of primary syphilis. The most frequent clinical symptoms were focal cranial nerve dysfunction (36.8%), dementia (26.3%) and pyramidal syndromes (21%). Plasma VDRL was reactive in 94% of the cases; the CSF VDRL test was reactive in only 73.6%. Most of our patients received aqueous penicillin (150,000 IU/kg/d IV), with a treatment success rate of 94%. We conclude that these data are in agreement with international literature, and that this illness should be considered in every middle-aged men with cognitive decline and/or acute focal motor problems

Palabras clave : neurosyphilis; Treponema Pallidum; epidemiology.