[Luetic hepatitis. An emerging entity]

Liver involvement is unusual in the course of syphilitic infection. We present four cases of luetic hepatitis diagnosed at our hospital in the last 5 years. One patient was coinfected with hepatitis B virus and another patient was coinfected with hepatitis C virus and HIV. The presence of maculopapular skin lesions in palmoplantar distribution, as well as serological confirmation, were decisive for the diagnosis of syphilitic hepatitis, allowing early antibiotic therapy to be established, with clinical and analytical improvement in all patients. Luetic hepatitis should be considered in patients with risky sexual behavior, skin lesions and altered liver function tests with a predominance of cholestasis, despite the finding of other, more frequent, liver diseases, given that these entities may be concurrent. Early diagnosis of syphilis leads to effective treatment of the patient and to epidemiological control of the infection.