Histopathological Patrern of Early Syphilis

Thirty six untreated cases of early syphilis comprising 10 primary and 26 secondary syphilis were included in the study. Primary syphilis depicted classical istopathological features of ulceration, exocytosis, perivascular infiltrate of lympocytes and plasma cells along with endothelial cell proliferation. Secondary syphilis, however, depicted intriguing features. Lichenoid infiltrate along with basal layer dissolution was seen in 3 and psoriasiform appearance in 1 cases. Three cases showed granulomatous reaction. One case manifesting as pruritic follicular rash had classical features on histopathology. Vascular changes were absent or inconspicuous in as many as 22.2% and 8.3% respectively.