This paper describes a case of benign tertiary syphilis represented by a solitary hypertrophic lesion on the dorsum surface of the tongue.
Introduction Acquired syphilis in adults has once again become an important public health problem.
For therapeutic procedures, syphilis is divided into a series of clinical stages. Primary syphilis, the earliest stage, is characterized by the presence of lesions at the site of Treponema pallidum entry and subsequent development of regional lymphadenopathy. After a variable period of latency, tertiary or late stage disease develops in about one third of untreated patients. Fortunately, manifestations of tertiary syphilis have become rare due to the development of programs that control sexually transmitted diseases and the inadvertent therapy with antibiotics administered for other pathologic conditions. In this report, we describe a case of benign tertiary syphilis represented by a solitary lesion of the tongue which was difficult to diagnose because it seldom occurs.