Psychiatric manifestations of neurosyphilis over past two decades: Findings from a tertiary care neuropsychiatric hospital in south India

Objective

To assess presentation of neurosyphilis with a focus on the psychiatric aspects.

Method

File review of the cases with a positive cerebrospinal fluid venereal disease research laboratory test between 1999 to 2020.

Results

Medical records of 143 neurosyphilis patients were analysed. Hallucinations, delusions, and catatonia were the commonest psychiatric symptoms. Brain atrophy was the commonest neuroimaging finding. The number of neurosyphilis patients and the proportion with delirium or catatonia declined during the second decade (2010–2020).

Conclusion

Atypical presentation of psychiatric symptoms around the fifth decade, with associated neurological symptoms or brain imaging changes, should prompt evaluation for neurosyphilis.