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Barking up the wrong tree? Use of polymerase chain reaction to diagnose syphilitic aortitis

¹ Pulmonary Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
² Department of Pathology, Boston University School of Medicine
³ Section of Infectious Diseases, Boston University School of Medicine
⁴ Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr A W O’Regan, The Pulmonary Center, Boston University School of Medicine, 715 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118, USA;
aoregan{at}lung.bumc.bu.edu

ABSTRACT
The presentation of syphilitic aortitis is often atypical and available serological tests are non-specific. The diagnostic gold standard remains direct identification of microorganisms in tissue. We present a case of syphilitic aortitis that presented as a mediastinal mass and report the use of polymerase chain reaction for Treponema pallidum to diagnose syphilitic aortic disease.

Keywords: syphilis; aortic aneurysm; polymerase chain reaction

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