Characteristics of Ocular Syphilis in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Positive Patients in Tertiary Eye Care Center : A Two-Year Observational Study

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Syphilis is a chronic systemic disease caused by the Treponema pallidum that is transmitted through sexual intercourse or trans-placental. Syphilis has the ability to mimic clinical manifestations of many organ systems, including the eye. Ocular syphilis can occur at any stage of syphilis A worldwide increase of ocular syphilis has been reported, especially in men having sex with men (MSM) and in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected population. Purpose To describe the clinical characteristics of ocular syphilis in HIV-positive patients in the Indonesian National Eye Center, Cicendo Eye Hospital. Methods A retrospective descriptive study was conducted from medical records of patients diagnosed as ocular syphilis with HIV co-infection from January 2019 to March 2021. Gender, age, marital status, educational level, sexual preference, clinical features, visual acuity, ocular lateralization, ocular medications, systemic medications, and follow-up period were reviewed. Results A total of 26 eyes from 15 patients were included in this study. The majority of the subjects were males (93%) with the age of 20–30 years old (66%). All of the subjects were HIV-positive and 53% of them were MSM. Bilateral ocular syphilis were found in 73% subjects with panuveitis as the most common (65%) clinical manifestation. The median of the follow-up period was 4 (3–11) months. Conclusion Characteristics of population in this study were young-adult males that were tested positive for HIV with the history of MSM. Bilateral panuveitis was the most prominent clinical manifestation.