Acute Nephrosis Complicating Two Day Arsenic and Fever Therapy for Early Syphilis

A one day treatment for early syphilis has been reported by Rose, Simpson and Kendell.¹They employed artificially induced fever for ten hours in combination with mapharsen from 120 to 240 mg. in the treatment of 23 patients. The only evidence of intoxication reported for these patients was transient increase in serum bilirubin or mild observable jaundice. We have administered a two day treatment to 48 patients, consisting of two intravenous injections of mapharsen of 100 mg. and 60 mg. on the first day followed on the second day with two injections of 60 mg. each and artificially induced fever to about 105.8 F. for seven hours. This report is concerned with 4 patients of our group who developed acute nephrosis. The clinical course of all 4 is shown graphically. An additional 4 patients developed severe albuminuria and azotemia of brief duration without fixed specific gravity of the urine.