Erb's Syphilitic Paraplegia

Abstract

A 45 years old married lady was admitted with spastic paraplegia of insidious onset without any sensory deficit. Serological studies of blood and CSF for syphilis were positive and cerebrospinal fluid showed increased cells and protein content. She responded well to parenteral penicillin therapy, showed gradual subjective improvement and appreciable decrease in cellular and protein content of the CSF. Her husband also was found to have latent syphilitic infection. Review of relevant literature showed no report of such paraplegia following syphilis in recent times. The case is being reported with a short discussion of the clinical features of neurosyphilis.