Syphilitic Outer Retinopathy

Abstract

PURPOSE: To present ocular syphilis masquerading as an outer retinopathy. METHODS: Retrospective case series, including 2 patients with features of acute zonal occult outer retinopathy (AZOOR) complex diseases. RESULTS: Laboratory results confirmed the diagnosis of syphilis in the 2 cases. Therapy with intravenous penicillin led to an improvement in symptoms, visual acuity, and ancillary testing. CONCLUSIONS: The protean ophthalmic presentations of syphilis are well known. However, AZOOR-like presentation has not been described previously. This atypical outer retinopathy should alert physicians to keep syphilis in the differential diagnosis of any inflammatory disorder.