1.An epidemiological study of syphilis and predictors of treatment failure in University Malaya Medical Center
Mohamed Amin Kader ; Raja Iskandar Azwa ; Rukumani Devi Velayuthan
The Medical Journal of Malaysia 2020;75(3):199-203
Introduction: There are limited studies on the epidemiology
of syphilis in Malaysia. In this study we describe the clinical
features and treatment outcomes of patients with syphilis
attending a tertiary referral university hospital.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the case records of
patients with positive serology findings for syphilis in
University Malaya Medical Center (UMMC) from January
2010 to December 2015. Serological positivity was defined
as having a positive rapid plasma reagin (RPR) or Venereal
Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) with a confirmatory
positive Treponema pallidum particle agglutination assay
(TPPA). Treatment outcomes were divided into two, success
or failure. Demographic and clinical characteristics
associated with predictors of treatment failure were
assessed using statistical package for the social science
(SPSS). This study also included a neurosyphilis descriptive
sub-study.
Results: There were 637 patients identified with positive
syphilis serology, but 258 patients were excluded as they did
not meet the inclusion criteria. 379 patients were then taken
for the demographic study; 14 patients (3.7%) were treated
for neurosyphilis; 170 patients with complete data were
included. In all 42/170 (24.7%) failed treatment, 12/170 (7.1%)
had reinfection and 116/170 (68.2%) had treatment success.
A final number of 158 patients were then taken and analyzed
for predictors of treatment failure after excluding the 12 reinfection patients. Only low baseline RPR (<1:16) was found
to be significant on multivariate logistic regression analysis
(p value: 0.007, 95% CI: 1.42, 9.21).
Conclusion: Most of the patients were HIV positive and from
the MSM (Men who have sex with Men) population. Low
baseline RPR titre is a predictor of treatment failure.