Imaging Characteristics of Brain SPECT, PET, and MRI in Neurosyphilis

Eun Kyoung Choi; Young Do Kim; Hyeonseok Jeong; Yong-An Chung; Jin Kyoung Oh; In-Uk Song

doi:10.1007/s13139-021-00684-9

Imaging Characteristics of Brain SPECT, PET, and MRI in Neurosyphilis

Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2021 Feb;55(1):48-51. doi: 10.1007/s13139-021-00684-9. Epub 2021 Feb 6.

Authors

Eun Kyoung Choi¹, Young Do Kim², Hyeonseok Jeong^{1

3}, Yong-An Chung^{1

3}, Jin Kyoung Oh¹, In-Uk Song²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nuclear Medicine, Incheon St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea.
² Department of Neurology, Incheon St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea.
³ Department of Radiology, Incheon St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea.

Abstract

The incidence of neurosyphilis has declined since effective penicillin therapy against Treponema pallidum was introduced. However, the diagnosis of neurosyphilis early in the disease course is very important in order to select appropriate antibiotic therapy. We report brain MRI, SPECT with Tc-99m ECD, and PET with F-18 FDG findings before antibiotic therapy in a neurosyphilis patient with neurological symptoms. The cerebral cortices showed hypoperfusion with a patchy distribution on SPECT and foci with high signal intensity on MRI, suggesting ischemia. Brain PET showed areas with hypometabolism in the temporoparietal lobes bilaterally.

Keywords: Magnetic resonance imaging; Neurosyphilis; Positron-emission tomography; Tomography, emission-computed, single-photon.

Publication types

Case Reports