Clinical and pathologic diagnosis and different diagnosis of syphilis cervical lymphadenitis

Purpose: To study the clinical pathologic characteristics and differential diagnosis of syphilitic cervical lymphadenitis, and to improve the rate of its diagnosis and treatment. Methods: Retrospectively analyzed the clinical history, Trepone pallidum-ELISA (TP-ELISA), rapid plasma regain test (RPR) and routine pathological examination of the patient diagnosed as syphilis lymphadenitis. And review related literatures. Results: The main clinical presentation was multiple palpable cervical lymph nodes. The multiple nodes were hard, fixed, and the major diameter of the larger one was 2 cm. The main pathological changes included: the capsule was significantly thickened; reactive hyperplasia of lymphoid follicular with sky star phenomenon; occlusive endovasculitis; perivascular inflammation; the proliferation of epithelioid histiocytes can form granulomas with few multinucleated giant cells; few necrosis. TP-ELISA and RPR were positive. Conclusions: The pathological changes of syphilitic lymphadenitis have a variety of performance with relatively specific and suggestive alterations which requires a combination of clinical history and laboratory test before the diagnosis, and the clinicians can reduce misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis of the disease by increasing vigilance of it.