Association Between Syphilitic Posterior Uveitis, VDRL Titer and HIV Co-Infection.

PURPOSE: Our primary goal is to study the relationship between Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) testing and posterior segment involvement by syphilis. Secondary goals include characterizing the epidemiological and clinical features of syphilitic posterior uveitis in a national multicenter cohort, and assessing the impact of HIV co-infection on disease presentation. METHODS: Retrospective, observational, multicenter study of syphilitic posterior uveitis with serologic confirmation. A review of medical records was conducted to facilitate statistical analysis, collecting epidemiologic, clinical and laboratorial results. CONCLUSION: In summary, our study identified a borderline significant association between higher VDRL titers and retinitis/choroiditis and, in HIV-infected individuals, between elevated CD4+ counts and papillitis. These findings suggest that patients presenting with elevated VDRL titers and/or higher CD4+ lymphocyte counts may be at increased risk for more severe posterior uveitis phenotypes.