Nearly all of a cohort of HIV-positive people in Warsaw, Poland, diagnosed with early syphilis had neurosyphilis, which can contribute to cognitive decline, aidsmap reports. Publishing their findings in HIV Medicine, researchers conducted a prospective study between 2008 and 2012 of HIV-positive people in an outpatient clinic in Warsaw who were diagnosed with early syphilis.

Ninety-three percent of the 191 participants had syphilis levels high enough that guidelines recommend they be tested for neurosyphilis. All of them were offered a spinal tap to test for neurosyphilis, and 59 (33 percent) agreed. The investigators also recruited an additional 13 individuals who had low levels of syphilis but symptoms of neurosyphilis.

Eighty-nine percent of the participants were men who have sex with men (MSM).

Ninety percent of those who had a spinal tap tested positive for neurosyphilis.

The investigators did not find a relationship between CD4 count and the risk of neurosyphilis. Among those who did have neurosyphilis, there was a significant relationship between increased white blood cell count (pleocytosis) in the cerebral spinal fluid. There was also a relationship between having neurosyphilis and not being on HIV treatment.

Those with neurosyphilis underwent antibiotic treatment, which penetrated their central nervous system well.

To read the aidsmap article, click here.

http://www.aidsmap.com/Neurosyphilis-present-in-90-of-HIV-positive-patients-with-early-syphilis-in-Warsaw/page/3028460/

To read the study abstract, click here.