A woman who is an intravenous drug abuser and who has been a prostitute for the past 20 years now has an aortitis. She has no mucosal ulcerations or exanthems. Her VDRL (Venereal Disease Research Laboratory) test is negative and her fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption test is positive. What is the most likely diagnosis?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The FTA-abs test detects specific antitreponemal antibody. The FTA-abs remains positive for life with or without antibiotic therapy. The VDRL test detects less specific reaginic antibodies, which decline with successful treatment, but also sometimes decline without treatment in tertiary syphilis. Therefore, based on the serologic data, this patient could have very early primary syphilis or untreated tertiary syphilis. The symptoms are consistent with tertiary syphilis.

A Woman Who Is an Intravenous Drug Abuser and Who