Congenital Syphilis in Newborn

In six cases of congenital syphilis in newborn at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center over a seven-month period the clinical findings fell into two categories related to the time of onset of symptoms. Infants ill in the nursery presented evidence of transplacental infection; infants who became ill later showed the “classic” findings of rash, rhinorrhea and pseudoparalysis. No single clinical symptom was present in all cases but all symptomatic infants had radiographic evidence of bone disease. Respiratory distress was present at the onset of symptoms in three of four infants with neonatal disease, and all three had evidence of interstitial pneumonia in chest radiographs. Serologic testing may be difficult to evaluate in the newborn period, but more recent and specific tests are helpful in diagnosis. Penicillin remains the drug of choice. The only death occurred at five hours of life in a premature infant. Growth and development in surviving infants appeared normal.