[Ocular syphilis]

Syphilis has distinctly increased in the last decades. It is necessary to know the different eye changes in syphilis.

In four patients, between 34 and 71 years of age, typical as well as unusual syphilitic eye changes were found. In three patients diagnosis was made due to the inflammatory eye changes.

An iritis was found in two patients (62 and 34 years old). In addition, the 62-year-old patient showed the unusual fundus picture of both vasculitis and neuroretinitis, with macular exudates and swelling of the optic disk. A venous occlusion, a rare sign in syphilis, was diagnosed in a 55-year-old patient. A 71-year-old patient revealed the characteristic finding of a placoid chorioretinitis. All four patients showed a swelling of the optic disk.

Syphilis should be suspected even in older patients with an uncertain origin of uveitis, optic nerve disease, pupillary changes, or eye motility disturbances giving rise to carry out serologic tests in patients with the suspected diagnosis.