Malignant syphilis and hepatitis. Case report.

The Treponema pallidum is capable of involving almost all the structures of the body, some commonly and others rarely. The skin is often affected, but the thick crusted ulcerative lesions of malignant syphilis (syphilis maligna praecox) are rare (Lejman and Starzycki, 1972). Hepatitis due to early syphilis has seldom been reported in recent years (Baker, Kaplan, Wolfe, and McGowan, 1971; Lee, Thornton, and Conn, 1971; Parker, 1972). The subject has been reviewed in the past by Hahn (1943) and Rajam and Rangiah (1954). These observations of the rarity of the condition prompted us to report this case of malignant syphilis and hepatitis.