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Patient with primary tonsillar and gastric syphilis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

Tadashi Ishimaru ,
Yasutsugu Mizuno ,
Hideaki Shiga ,
Ikuo Nagayama  and
Mitsuru Furukawa
Tadashi Ishimaru*
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, School of Medicine, Kanazawa University, Yamanaka National Hospital, Japan.
Yasutsugu Mizuno
Affiliation:
Department of Internal Medicine, Yamanaka National Hospital, Japan.
Hideaki Shiga
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, School of Medicine, Kanazawa University, Yamanaka National Hospital, Japan.
Ikuo Nagayama
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, School of Medicine, Kanazawa University, Yamanaka National Hospital, Japan.
Mitsuru Furukawa
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, School of Medicine, Kanazawa University, Yamanaka National Hospital, Japan.
*
Address for correspondence: Dr. Tadashi Ishimaru, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, School of Medicine, Kanazawa University, 1–13. Takara-machi, Kanazawa, 920, Japan. Fax: 81-76-234-4265 email: ishimar@med.kanazawa-u.ac.jp
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Abstract

A male patient with syphilitic lesions in the tonsil and stomach is presented. The patient was infected while practising oral sex with heterosexual friends. He complained of nausea and snoring; his left tonsil was enlarged. Spirochetes were detected in a smear preparation from the left tonsil. As a gastric lesion, initially believed to be cancer, appeared to result from spirochete ingestion, the case is considered to represent primary syphilis. After antibiotic therapy with ampicillin, the left tonsil returned to normal size and gastric changes were no longer evident endoscopically. Gastroscopy should be considered if syphilis of the tonsil is observed, particularly when gastrointestinal symptoms are present. Both the oral and the gastric lesion can be mistaken for malignant neoplasm.

Keywords

SyphilisStomachTonsilGastroscopyTreponema pallidum
Type
Clinical Records
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 111 , Issue 8 , August 1997 , pp. 766 - 768
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1997

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