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Neurosyphilis - Treatment

Treatment:

Penicillin is used to treat neurosyphilis. The medicine may be given in various ways.

It may be injected into a vein every day for 10 - 14 days.
You may take probenecid by mouth 4 times a day, combined with daily muscle injections -- both for 10 - 14 days.

You must have follow-up blood tests and lumbar punctures for CSF fluid analysis at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months to make sure the infection is gone.

For information on treating syphilis, see the following articles:

Expectations (prognosis):

This is considered a life-threatening complication of syphilis. How well you do depends on how severe the neurosyphilis is before treatment.

Complications:

The symptoms can get slowly worse.

Calling your health care provider:

Call for an appointment with your health care provider if you have had syphilis in the past and now have signs of neurological problems.

Central nervous system

Reviewed last on: 9/28/2008
David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; and Jatin M. Vyas, PhD, MD, Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Assistant in Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Hook EW. Syphilis. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007: chap 340.

Tramont EC. Treponema pallidum (syphilis). In: Mandell GL, Bennett JE, Dolin R, eds. Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone; 2005: chap 235.

Screening for syphilis infection: Recommendation statement. Rockville MD, US Preventive Services Task Force: July 2008.

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