Syphilitic pancreatitis: A rare mimicker of our time.

ABSTRACT

We present an unusual case of syphilitic pancreatitis and ascending aortitis in a 41-year-old HIV-negative male patient presenting to a tertiary institution with obstructive jaundice. After a battery of investigations that included computed tomography (CT) and 18F-labelled fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/CT (18F-FDG PET/CT) imaging, syphilis serology and histology, a diagnosis of tertiary syphilis was made. The patient responded favourably to antibiotics, with resolution of all lesions on FDG PET/CT 13 weeks after initiation of therapy. Even though tertiary syphilis is a rare entity, it should be earmarked as a mimicker of other pathological conditions, including, in this case, primary pancreatic malignancy.