Incidence of glomerulonephritis in congenital syphilis.

We present 5 patients with abnormal urinalysis from a series of 11 infants with congenital syphilis. Three of these 5 patients had a biopsy that demonstrated a membranous glomerulonephritis, and in two cases treponemal antigens were identified in the capillaries of the glomeruli. We suggest that glomerulonephritis with few clinical manifestations is a frequent complication of congenital syphilis and that every patient with congenital syphilis must be studied in order to detect alterations in glomerular function.