Neurosyphilis

Neurosyphilis is infection of the brain, spinal cord, or their coverings by Treponema pallidum, the bacterium that causes syphilis. It can occur at any stage of syphilis and produce varied neurological or psychiatric symptoms.

Blood–brain barrier: A selective interface that regulates movement of substances between blood and the central nervous system. Its relationship to treponemal invasion helps explain how infection reaches the nervous system.
Cerebrospinal fluid: The clear fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. Testing this fluid can reveal evidence of central nervous system infection.
HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder: A spectrum of cognitive and behavioral impairment associated with human immunodeficiency virus infection. It can resemble cognitive manifestations of neurosyphilis but has a different infectious cause.
Alfred Fournier: A French dermatologist who characterized syphilis and its late complications in the nineteenth century. His clinical work helped establish the connection between syphilis and neurological disease.
Meningitis: Inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Early neurosyphilis can inflame these membranes and their blood vessels.
Lumbar puncture: A procedure that collects cerebrospinal fluid by inserting a needle into the lower back. It provides the sample used in many neurosyphilis evaluations.
Viral meningitis: Inflammation of the meninges caused by a viral infection. It is another cause of meningitis, distinguished from syphilitic infection by its cause and evaluation.
Auguste Wassermann: A German bacteriologist associated with an early complement-fixation test for syphilis. The Wassermann test became an influential diagnostic tool before modern serology.
Meningovascular syphilis: A form of neurosyphilis in which inflammation of cerebral blood vessels can cause stroke. It shows how syphilitic inflammation can damage vessels and interrupt brain blood flow.
Venereal Disease Research Laboratory test: A nontreponemal blood test used to detect and monitor syphilis. Its cerebrospinal-fluid version can support diagnosis, though a negative result does not always exclude disease.

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