The great imitators – Differential diagnosis of syphilis and systemic lupus erythematosus related to a case

Abstract

The authors report the case of a 29-year-old male patient presenting with erythematous maculopapular rash, painful oral and genital erosions, dysuria, scleroconjunctivitis, painful palmoplantar hyperkeratotic papules, asymmetric, migratory oligoarthritis, recurrent fever and alopecia parvimaculata. Based on the clinical symptoms the first suspected diagnoses were secondary syphilis and reactive arthritis, however the performed laboratory tests did not confirmed the diagnoses. The autoimmune serology tests, the clinical symptoms, and the results of further investigations established the diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). By presenting this case the authors highlight the differential diagnostic challanges of secondary syphilis and SLE.