Ocular Syphilis Presenting As Non-arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy

Abstract

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochetal bacteria Treponema pallidum. It can cross the blood-brain barrier within days of the infection, causing neurosyphilis and ocular syphilis at any stage of the disease. Ocular syphilis can manifest in any part of the eye but usually as posterior uveitis and pan-uveitis or various types of inflammatory or immune-mediated optic neuritis. Misdiagnosing ocular syphilis as a non-infectious disease has been reported even when seen by ophthalmologists due to the wide variety of possible presentations. In this case report, we describe a case of ocular syphilis that presented with a non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NA-AION), which to our knowledge, has not been described before in the literature.