Pulmonary abscesses in congenital syphilis.

Congenital syphilis remains a public health concern in the United States. Infants whose mothers are treated in the third trimester without adequate prenatal care have an increased risk of morbidity and mortality in the immediate perinatal period. The identification of Treponema pallidum in tissue is definitive confirmation of infection. We report the case of a 32-week gestational age infant born to a mother treated for syphilis 7 days prior to delivery. The infant died 12.5 hours after birth. At autopsy, there was extensive acute hyaline membrane disease. In addition, there were bilateral pulmonary abscesses with spirochetes. The onset of maternal disease was unknown, but was probably early in or prior to the pregnancy. This is an unusual case of pulmonary involvement in congenital syphilis.