Syphilis: Review of the Recent Literature

Congenital Syphilis 

Congenital Syphilis in One of Twins.  — Laird⁹⁷ presents two case reports of congenital syphilis occurring in only one of binovular twins, of which the first case appears very clear-cut. He concludes that the placental passage of treponemes from the mother to the fetus probably depends on chance and that infection of only one twin is a reasonable, although uncommon, happening, and more likely to ocur in binovular than in monovular twins. Criteria for establishing this phenomenon are discussed.

Congenital Syphilis in Absence of Positive Blood Tests in the Mother.  —A detailed report of a case of congenital syphilis in which the diagnosis was clouded by the absence of a reactive serologic test for syphilis in the mother was recorded by Fiumara and Hill.⁹⁸ They confirmed their diagnosis when the reaction to the T. pallidum immobilization test on the mother's blood was