Hepatic ultrastructure in secondary syphilis.

We describe the ultrastructural findings in liver biopsy specimens from 19 patients with secondary syphilis. These patients were unselected, had negative tests for hepatitis B surface antigen, and were not jaundiced. Most hepatocytes appeared normal; a few showed minor nonspecific changes, including some prominence of lipofuscin. Kupffer cell and endothelial cell hyperplasia were noteworthy in some specimens, occasionally forming clusters with mononuclear cells. However, these findings, have no specificity. Although treponemes were seen in Warthin-stained sections by light microscopy in three instances, no organisms were detected in the blocks selected for electron microscopy.