Increase in Ocular Syphilis Cases at Ophthalmologic Reference Center, France, 2012-2015.

Pratas, Ana Catarina; Goldschmidt, Pablo; Lebeaux, David; Aguilar, Claire; Ermak, Natalia; Benesty, Jonathan; Charlier, Caroline; Benveniste, Edgar; Merabet, Lilia; Sedira, Neila; Hope-Rapp, Emilie; Chaumeil, Christine; Bodaghi, Bahram; Héron, Emmanuel; Sahel, José-Alain; Lortholary, Olivier; Errera, Marie-Hélène

We describe the frequency, demographic and clinical features, and visual outcomes of ocular syphilis infections observed during 2012-2015 at a tertiary reference center in Paris, France. Twenty-one cases (29 eyes) were identified. The occurrence of ocular syphilis increased from 1 case in 2012 to 5 cases in 2013, 6 cases in 2014, and 9 cases in 2015 (2.22-25.21/1,000 individual patients/year for the period). Among case-patients, an annual 20%-33% were co-infected with HIV. Seventy-six percent of ocular syphilis infections occurred in men who have sex with men. Seventy-five percent of case-patients had a good final visual outcome (best-corrected visual acuity >0.3 logMAR score). Visual outcome was worse for HIV-positive patients than for HIV-negative patients (p = 0.0139). At follow-up, the best visual outcomes were observed in patients whose mean time from first ocular symptom to consultation was 15 days (SD +19 days).