Proteinuria and Palmar Clues: Rediscovering the Renal Face of Syphilis

TL;DR

A case study shows that syphilis can cause kidney disease, but early treatment can reverse the damage.

Contribution

This case highlights the renal complications of syphilis and the effectiveness of timely treatment.

Findings

Syphilis can progress to membranous nephropathy if untreated.

Early diagnosis and treatment of syphilis can resolve both systemic and renal symptoms.

Renal dysfunction caused by syphilis is reversible with appropriate therapy.

Abstract

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection that remains prevalent in our population despite available curative treatment. Here, we present a case of a 35-year-old female with a presenting symptom of dry rash on multiple regions of her body. This rash was not initially identified as syphilis, and the patient’s disease progressed to involve the kidney. This systemic manifestation of secondary syphilis led to a membranous nephropathy (MN). Following treatment of the underlying infection, the patient’s symptoms and renal dysfunction fully resolved. This case highlights the wide-ranging impacts of syphilis as it continues to spread in our population, and that early recognition and targeted therapy can lead to favorable renal outcomes with a resolution of systemic manifestations.

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