[Renal lesions in congenital syphilis. A case report]

The authors describe a case of congenital syphilitic nephropathy in an infant. The review of the reports in the literature shows many similarities of this congenital disease with the syphilitic nephrotic syndrome in the adult. The prognosis is favorable provided the diagnosis is made sufficiently early. Histological studies utilizing light-, electron- and immunofluorescence-microscopy gave results consistent with extramembranous glomerulonephritis with possible evolution towards endo- and extracapillary proliferative glomerulonephritis. This is one of the rare renal diseases with a known antigen.