Syphilitic Temporal Arteritis

Abstract

An elderly man presented with classic findings of acute temporal arteritis.<i>Treponema pallidum</i>was identified both in the superficial temporal artery and in the aqueous humor, when stained with fluorescein tagged anti-<i>T pallidum</i>globulin. Study of nine cases of biopsy proven temporal arteritis revealed reactive serum fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption (FTA-ABS) tests in four cases. The clinical significance of these observations is evident.