Maternal syphilis: pathophysiology and treatment.
Year: 2004
Type: article
Abstract: Despite the long history of medical interest in syphilis and its effects on pregnancy outcome, many fundamental questions about the pathophysiology and treatment of syphilis during pregnancy remain unanswered. However, understanding has been advanced by recent scientific reports such as those which delineate the complete sequence of the genome of the syphilis spirochaete, provide a more precise description of fetal and neonate infection by use of rabbit infectivity tests and describe the gestational age distribution of fetal death secondary to syphilis. It appears that fetal syphilitic involvement progresses in a rather predictable fashion, and although there is disagreement about the optimal prenatal treatment regimen, programmatic efforts to prevent fetal death must provide seropositive pregnant women with a recommended treatment early in pregnancy, and certainly before the third trimester.
Source: Europe PMC (PubMed Central)
Author: Stuart M Berman
Institution: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Language: English
Subfield: Infectious Diseases
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2131343415