A case of syphilitic aortitis

AbstractHeart and its great vessels are involved in tertiary syphilis in the form of syphilitic aortitis often 20 years or more after primary infection is contracted. In a 60 year old male cadaver, we found an enlarged heart with aneurysm of ascending aorta and semilunar septa was found protruding in to the lumen of arch of aorta distal to the origin of left subclavian artery. Right pulmonary vessels were dilated. Right and left atrial cavity were dilated, left ventricular hypertrophy with dilatation was noted. Hispathological findings of the specimens were suggestive of syphilitic aortitis. Cardiovascular syphilis though uncommon is still a significant cause of mortality and morbidity, which can be reduced by adequate screening, accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment.

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THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF SYPHILITIC AORTITIS

Annals of Internal Medicine ◽

10.7326/0003-4819-27-5-827 ◽

1947 ◽

Vol 27 (5) ◽

pp. 827 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Keyword(s):

Early Development ◽

Syphilitic Aortitis

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A case report of CT-diagnosed renal infarct secondary to syphilitic aortitis

BMC Infectious Diseases ◽

10.1186/s12879-017-2624-1 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Maaike Spaltenstein ◽

Françoise Humbert ◽

Diem-Lan Vu ◽

Ilker Uçkay ◽

Gregor John

Keyword(s):

Case Report ◽

Renal Infarct ◽

Syphilitic Aortitis

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Auf den Spuren des Erb’schen Auskultationspunkts: Rätsel gelöst

DMW - Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift ◽

10.1055/a-0596-4733 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 143 (25) ◽

pp. 1852-1857

Author(s):

Frederick Kolb ◽

Johannes Spanke ◽

Andreas Winkelmann

Keyword(s):

General Medicine ◽

Neurological Manifestations ◽

Heart Murmur ◽

Historical Evidence ◽

The Third ◽

Erb’S Point ◽

American Physician ◽

Aortic Incompetence ◽

Case Presentations ◽

Syphilitic Aortitis

Abstract“Erb’s point” is the fifth point of auscultation for the heart exam, located in the third intercostal space close to the sternum. It has sometimes been attributed to famous German neurologist Wilhelm Heinrich Erb (1840 – 1921), but without historical evidence. Erb’s focus on neurology suggested that the auscultation point may have been confused with other points in the neck named after Erb. As Erb was a specialist for neurological manifestations of syphilis, we speculated that the heart murmur of aortic incompetence produced by syphilitic aortitis, best heard at Erb’s point, linked Erb’s name to the auscultation point. However, we eventually found a publication by an American physician who visited Erb’s lectures in Heidelberg and reported that Erb explicitly introduced this “fifth point” in his case presentations in the late 1890 s. After all, Erb was chair of general medicine, with the first German chair of neurology only being established in 1919.

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