Necrotizing retinitis in a patient with syphilis: A case report

Ocular syphilis varies widely in presentation and should be considered in all patients with posterior uveitis. Necrotizing retinitis is a rare manifestation of ocular syphilis and mimics ARN.

We report a male patient who presented with bilateral dense vitritis obscuring fundus details similar to ARN, as a rare reported manifestation of syphilis, who was initially given intravitreal ganciclovir.

After the results for herpes viral PCR disclosed negative, the diagnosis of syphilitic necrotizing retinitis was made based on positive RPR.

With the clinical diagnosis of ocular syphilis, treatment with intravenous penicillin was promptly initiated. His visual acuity improved to 20/100 in the right eye and still light perception in the left. Pars plana vitrectomy with silicon oil tamponade was performed in his left eye.

Ocular syphilis varies widely in presentation and should be considered in all patients with posterior uveitis. However, whenever ARN is clinically suspected, empiric treatment against herpetic viruses should be promptly administered while awaiting further infectious disease study results. Recognition of syphilitic retinitis and prompt initiation of intravenous penicillin is of critical important for clinicians.