Outcome of Pregnancies of Women Treated With Aqueous Penicillin for Early Infectious Syphilis

THE ADMINISTRATION of penicillin to pregnant syphilitic women has made it possible to prevent prenatal syphilis in the great majority of infants.1 The next problem of practical interest concerning which we have now accumulated considerable experience is the question of the lasting effect of penicillin therapy for subsequent pregnancies. This problem may be formulated as follows: Does a woman who becomes pregnant after having had, by present day standards, adequate treatment with penicillin for early infectious (dark field-positive) syphilis require re-treatment, or is it safe merely to observe the patient's clinical and serologic status during subsequent pregnancies?2 The present study reports the results of the outcome of all pregnancies in women treated for dark field-positive primary, secondary or relapsing syphilis with one of the following schedules: Administration of 2,400,000 units of aqueous penicillin (amorphous) over a period of fifteen days: 120 intramuscular injections, 20,000 units each,