Pingyu Zhou

Abstract Objective: To identify clinical and laboratory factors associated with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) abnormalities suggestive of neurosyphilis (NS) among HIV-negative patients with secondary syphilis. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 805 HIV-negative patients diagnosed with secondary syphilis who underwent lumbar puncture (Lp) at a tertiary referral center in Shanghai, China, between 2009 and 2022.

INTRODUCTION Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infectious disease caused by Treponema pallidum and has spread across the globe (1–3). In 2021, the number of reported cases of syphilis in China was 480,020, marking the highest count among all countries worldwide and signifying a 3.4% increase compared to the previous year (4). This places syphilis as the third-most prevalent infectious disease in China, based on the incidence rates (4).