Liver Disease Associated with Early Syphilis

RECENT public-health surveys indicate a marked increase in the prevalence of needle-transferred hepatitis in young people.1 Similarly, an attitude of increasing sexual permissiveness has been accompanied by an increasing incidence of venereal disease.2 Although needle-transferred hepatitis is the most common cause of jaundice in this group, other rare but readily treatable causes of hepatitis must now be considered. The following case is an example of a patient with early syphilis who presented with jaundice. Case Report A 36-year-old homosexual was admitted to the New England Medical Center Hospitals in August, 1969, with jaundice, dark urine and clay-colored stools of 2 . . .