Nephrotic Syndrome Revealing Secondary Syphilis in a 23-year-old Student in Sub-Saharan Africa and Review of the Literature

Glomerulonephritis is one of the renal damages of secondary syphilis.

We report the case of a 23-year-old man, a student with progressive bilateral glaucoma, who consulted nephrology for the oedema to-ascitic syndrome. Clinical and laboratory examination revealed painless generalised edema, syphilitic roseola, nephrotic range proteinuria (10.26 g/24h), severe hypoalbuminemia (16.2 g/l) and hypercholesterolemia. The diagnosis of nephrotic syndrome secondary to syphilis was made and confirmed by positive serology (VDRL and TPHA). After four weeks treatment with anti biotic, significant regression of proteinuria (140mg/24h) and normalization of biological parameters were observed. This case illustrates the importance of early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of nephrotic syndrome secondary to syphilis, enabling rapid and complete recovery.