Abstract General Information

Título / Title

ABSENCE OF LONG-TERM OPHTHALMIC COMPLICATIONS IN CHILDREN WITH CONGENITAL SYPHILIS TREATED WITH SECOND-LINE ANTIBIOTIC THERAPY

Introdução / Purpose

Congenital syphilis (CS) is associated with interstitial keratitis, chorioretinitis, uveitis, and optic atrophy, the prevalence of which grows significantly every year in inadequately treated patients. We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis evaluating ocular findings in children born in 2015 with CS treated with ceftriaxone at the time of delivery during the period of penicillin shortage in a city located at Northeast of Brazil and compared them with those adequately treated.

Material e Método / Methods

Children born with CS during the penicillin shortage period, were actively searched and invited to an ophthalmological assessment and retrospective analysis of their information recorded in the medical records of the municipality's health services.

Resultados / Results

A total of 68 children, median age 8 years of age (range 7-8 years), 48 were treated with penicillin (70.5%) and 20 with ceftriaxone (29.5%). There were no significant differences in demographic or perinatal characteristics between the groups. The majority of children had a completely normal ophthalmological examination (67.6%). Regarding findings that are more associated with CS, one child in ceftriaxone group (5.0%) had optic atrophy and one in the penicillin group (2.9%) was considered a glaucoma suspect. No interstitial keratitis was found. There was no significant association between the child's treatment and the prevalence of ophthalmologic findings (p=0.663). There was also no association between the medication and a current reactive VDRL (p=1.000).

Discussão e Conclusões / Conclusion

In this sample of children diagnosed and treated for congenital syphilis at birth, there was no significant difference in the incidence of ophthalmological manifestations between those treated for CS with penicillin compared to ceftriaxone after an 8 years follow-up. Ceftriaxone may be effective for prevention of ophthalmologic manifestations of congenital syphilis.

Palavras Chave

Pediatric retina; congenital syphilis; optic atrophy.