Syphilis and its cardiovascular complications in the elderly.

The prevalence of syphilis and its cardiovascular complications were investigated in the living population more than 60 years of age. The prevalence of positive serologic test for syphilis (STS) were 16.9% (124/736) in males and 17.1% (236/1380) in females, which were not statistically different. Aortic regurgitation (AR) was significantly more frequent in those with positive STS (9.68% in males, 5.08% in females) compared with negative STS (0.98% in males, 1.75% in females) in both sexes (p less than 0.01) and it was marked in males. AR with positive STS had a significantly lower minimal blood pressure than AR with negative STS (p less than 0.05). Calcifications in the ascending aorta were noticed in 5 out of 24 syphilitic AR. Myocardial infarctions were almost equally found among those with positive STS (1.67%) and negative STS (1.65%), and 2 out of 6 syphilitic cases were complicated by AR. The measurement of the aortic width was not valuable for the diagnosis of uncomplicated syphilitic aortitis.