• Kaitlyn L Streight, Ronald M Paranal, and Daniel M Musher.
• Baylor College of Medicine, 1 Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA. Kaitlyn.Streight@bcm.edu.
• J Med Case Rep. 2019 Jul 26; 13 (1): 227.

BackgroundSyphilis is a sexually transmitted bacterial infection of the spirochete, Treponema pallidum. While primary syphilis often involves genitalia, oral manifestations are observed in a subset of patients. These lesions are often associated with submandibular and cervical lymphadenopathy. This is a case report of a primary syphilitic lesion located on the hard palate of the oral cavity, with only a very few cases described previously.Case PresentationWe describe a rare case of syphilis in a 59-year-old African American man presenting with subjective fevers, chills, marked submental lymphadenopathy, a diffuse skin rash, and an ulcer of the hard palate.ConclusionsThis case report demonstrates the importance of maintaining a high index of suspicion for syphilitic infection when a patient presents with nonspecific symptoms, a diffuse rash, and an oral lesion.

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