Treponema Pallidum: A Forgotten Pathogen With Major Cardiovascular Consequence

Sami J Natour; Soniya V Rabadia; Daniel P Stefanko; Gregory A Fishbein; Rushi V Parikh; Jeffrey J Hsu

doi:10.1016/j.jaccas.2024.102575

Treponema Pallidum: A Forgotten Pathogen With Major Cardiovascular Consequence

JACC Case Rep. 2024 Nov 6;29(21):102575. doi: 10.1016/j.jaccas.2024.102575.

Authors

Sami J Natour¹, Soniya V Rabadia¹, Daniel P Stefanko², Gregory A Fishbein², Rushi V Parikh¹, Jeffrey J Hsu^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.
² Department of Pathology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.
³ Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Abstract

The incidence of syphilis has increased in the last 2 decades. This case describes a 43-year-old with aortic aneurysm and symptomatic aortic regurgitation initially suspected to be congenital and later confirmed as syphilitic in etiology, illustrating a growing need to consider tertiary syphilis as a cause of aortopathy.

Keywords: aortic regurgitation; cardiomyopathy; syphilis; thoracic aortic aneurysm.

Publication types

Case Reports