Korean J Dermatol.
2012 Aug;50(8):730-733.
Syphilid Showing a Histological Pattern of Granulomatous Inflammation
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Dermatology, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea. yymmpark6301@hotmail.com
Abstract
- Syphilid represents a great variety of clinical and histological patterns. As such, sometimes it is difficult to make a differential diagnosis from other skin diseases. The histopathologic findings of syphilid are different, according to the clinical types; macular, maculopapular, papulosquamous, and nodular type. Characteristically, there is a marked perivascular infiltration of plasma cells and lymphocytes with endothelial cell swelling in the dermis. Herein, we report a case of syphilid showing the unusual histological pattern of granulomatous inflammation. A 45-year-old male presented with erythematous papules on the scalp, trunk, arms and inguinal area for 2 months. The biopsy specimen showed a chronic granulomatous inflammation with multinucleated giant cells in the dermis. Serologic test for syphilis showed a strong positive, and the patient was diagnosed with secondary syphilis. He was treated with benzathine penicillin G and the skin lesions have successfully disappeared.
