No. | Symptoms | Treatment regimen* | Time† | RPR‡ | CSF/WBC (0–8)×106/l§ | CSF/protein (150–450) mg/l§ | CSF/VDRL§ |
1 | Nil | BP qw 2 w/ACP | 36 | 1:64/1:8/1:16/1:8 | 8.1↑/3 | 860↑/430 | 1:4/1:2 |
2 | Headache/nil§ | AZT 1 g po qd 1 w/ACP | 28 | 1:16/1:4/1:4/1:4 | 3/4 | 441/280 | 1:1/(–) |
3 | Nil | PP qd 2 w/ACP | 57 | 1:32/1:8/1:8/1:8 | 1.1/2 | 890↑/520↑ | 1:2/1:1 |
4 | Hemiplegia/improvement§ | BP qw 3 w/ACP | 42 | 1:64/1:6/1:32/1:16 | 300↑/7.6 | 1860↑/510↑ | 1:8/1:4 |
5 | Nil | AZT 2 g po qd 2 w/CEF 2 g iv 10 d | 24 | 1:32/1:4/1:8/1:4 | 3.8/3 | 1050↑/260 | 1:4/1:2 |
6 | Nil | BP qw 2 w/ACP | 26 | 1:128/1:32/1:64/1:32 | 8.2↑/5.2 | 650↑/320 | 1:16/1:4 |
7 | Nil | MIN 0.1 g twice daily po 2 w/CEF 2 g IV 10 d | 24 | 1:64/1:16/1:16/1:8 | 9.8↑/4.4 | 460↑/420 | 1:4/1:2 |
8 | Cognitive deficit/improved§ | BP qw 2 w/ACP | 78 | 1:256/1:32/1:32/1:16 | 5.8/5 | 580↑/180 | 1:8/1:4 |
9 | Nil | BP qw 1 w/ACP | 38 | 1:64/1:8/1:8/1:8 | 26↑/8 | 460↑/220 | 1:4/1:2 |
10 | Nil | BP qw 2 w/ACP | 28 | 1:128/1:32/1:32/1:16 | 8.8↑/3 | 280/260 | 1:8/1:4 |
11 | Nil | CEF 250 mg 10 d/ACP | 25 | 1:16/1:4/1:8/1:4 | 9↑/4.7 | 540↑/470↑ | 1:8/1:4 |
12 | Nil | CEF 250 mg 10 d/ACP | 37 | 1:128/1:16/1:16/1:8 | 17↑/7.2 | 570↑/320 | 1:4/1:4 |
13 | Cognitive deficit/improved§ | BP qw 1 w/ACP | 89 | 1:256/1:64/1:64/1:64 | 38↑/6.8 | 590↑/430 | 1:16/1:8 |
14 | Nil | AZT 2 g iv qd 1 w/CEF 2 g iv 10 d | 42 | 1:128/1:32/1:8/1:4 | 2.2/2 | 430/320 | 1:2/1:2 |
15 | Nil | PP qd 2 w/ACP | 44 | 1:256/1:32/1:16/1:8 | 18.8↑/7 | 800↑/570↑ | 1:8/1:2 |
16 | Nil | PP qd 2 w/CEF 2 g iv 10 d | 26 | 1:64/1:16/1:8/1:8 | 3.3/3.2 | 430/380 | 1:1/(–) |
17 | Nil | PP qd 2 w/ACP | 31 | 1:16/1:4/1:4/1:4 | 3/4.1 | 280/340 | 1:1/1:1 |
↵* Secondary syphilis treatment/neurosyphilis treatment.
↵† Time (months) between treatment of secondary syphilis and the diagnosis of neurosyphilis.
↵‡ Initial RPR/3 months after secondary syphilis treatment/RPR when neurosyphilis was diagnosed/3 months after neurosyphilis treatment.
↵§ Before/3 months after anti-neurosyphilis treatment.
ACP, acqueous crystalline penicillin 4 MU iv every 4 h for 14 days; AZT, azithromycin; BP, benzathine penicillin G 2.4 MU; CEF, ceftriaxone; CSF, cerebrospinal fluid; iv, intravenous; MIN, minocycline; PP, procaine penicillin G 0.8 MU; RPR, rapid plasma reagin; WBC, white blood cells.