Syphilis? An Unusual Cause of Surgical Emergency in a Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Man

Abstract

We report on a human immunodeficiency virus-infected man undergoing urgent anorectal surgery, with multicentimeter fungating masses discovered inside the anus. Initial pathology was inconclusive. After the patient developed a disseminated rash postoperatively determined to be secondary syphilis, the anorectal pathology was reviewed and Treponema pallidum DNA was amplified by polymerase chain reaction from the mass.