Differential diagnosis of optic neuritis in a patient with ankylosing spondylitis

The authors report a 38-year-old white man with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) who presented with recurrent ischaemic optic neuritis. The initial diagnosis was of multiple sclerosis, but further investigation showed serology and cerebrospinal fluid culture positive for syphilis. After treatment for ter...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Rheumatology international 2004-07, Vol.24 (4), p.247-249
Main Authors: APPENZELLER, Simone, WERNER DE CASTRO, Glaucio R, SAMPAIO-BARROS, Percival D, SACHETTO, Zoraida, SAMARA, Adil M, FERNANDES, Sandra Regina M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Diagnosis, Differential
Diseases of the osteoarticular system
Diseases of visual field, optic nerve, optic chiasma and optic tracts
Humans
Inflammatory joint diseases
Male
Medical sciences
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple Sclerosis - diagnosis
Ophthalmology
Optic nerve
Optic Neuritis - diagnosis
Optic Neuritis - etiology
Penicillins - therapeutic use
Spondylitis, Ankylosing - complications
Spondylitis, Ankylosing - diagnosis
Syphilis - drug therapy
Syphilis - immunology
Syphilis - pathology
Syphilis Serodiagnosis
Treatment Outcome
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The authors report a 38-year-old white man with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) who presented with recurrent ischaemic optic neuritis. The initial diagnosis was of multiple sclerosis, but further investigation showed serology and cerebrospinal fluid culture positive for syphilis. After treatment for tertiary syphilis with penicillin, there was complete remission of the ocular symptoms. This case illustrates the differential diagnosis of optic neuritis in AS and supports the relevance of investigating infectious diseases in the management of ischaemic optic neuritis.
ISSN:0172-8172
1437-160X
DOI:10.1007/s00296-003-0401-5