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- Title
Rising Incidence of Syphilis Infection in Canada: A Case Report of Syphilitic Placentitis.
- Authors
Sidiropoulos, Michael; Lausman, Andrea; Yudin, Mark H.; Iakovlev, Vladimir V.
- Abstract
The Public Health Agency of Canada reports an increasing incidence of syphilis in the general population throughout Canada; as a corollary, the rate of congenital syphilis cases is on the rise as well. In 2006, 1,311 cases of adult syphilis were detected and the overall rate increased by 900% when compared with 1997. We present a case of syphilitic placentitis to alert pathologists and clinicians to the increasing possibility of encountering syphilis in modern practice. A patient with minimal antenatal care presented late in this pregnancy. She had been diagnosed with syphilis 3 years previously and treated with doxycycline because of a penicillin allergy. At presentation to the hospital, syphilis serology was positive. The neonate's serology was positive for syphilis antibodies; however, there were no signs of congenital syphilis. The placenta was found to have histiocyte-predominant villitis and stem villi sclerosis. The presence of Treponema pallidum within the chorionic plate was demonstrated by the Steiner silver stain. This case shows that routine screening for syphilis remains a justified standard of antenatal care, and pathologists must consider the possibility of syphilis when encountering histiocyte-predominant villitis and plasma cell villitis with placental endovasculopathy.
- Subjects
CANADA; SYPHILIS; PLACENTA diseases; SEROLOGY; CHORIONIC villi; TREPONEMA pallidum
- Publication
Canadian Journal of Pathology, 2010, Vol 2, Issue 3, p19
- ISSN
1918-915X
- Publication type
Article