By definition, it occurs in children at or greater than 2 years of age who acquired the infection trans-placentally.Symptoms include:
Blunted upper incisor teeth known as Hutchinsons teeth
Deafness from auditory nerve disease
Frontal bossing (prominence of the brow ridge)
Hard palate defect
Inflammation of the cornea known as interstitial keratitis
Protruding mandible
Saber shins
Saddle nose (collapse of the bony part of nose)
Short maxillae
Swollen kneesA frequently-found group of symptoms is Hutchinsons triad, which consists of Hutchinsons teeth (notched incisors), keratitis and deafness and occurs in 63% of cases.Treatment (with penicillin) before the development of late symptoms is essential. Signs and symptoms
Abnormal x-rays
Anemia
Cerebral palsy
Du Bois sign, narrowing of the little finger
Enlarged liver
Enlarged spleen
Frontal bossing
Sensorineural hearing loss
Higouménakis sign, enlargement of the sternal end of clavicle in late congenital syphilis
Hutchinsons triad, a set of symptoms consisting of deafness, Hutchinsons teeth (centrally notched, widely spaced peg-shaped upper central incisors), and interstitial keratitis (IK), an inflammation of the cornea which can lead to corneal scarring and potential blindness
Hydrocephalus
Jaundice
Lymph node enlargement
Mulberry molars (permanent first molars with multiple poorly developed cusps)
Musculoskeletal deformities
Petechiae
Poorly developed maxillae
Pseudoparalysis
Rhagades, linear scars at the angles of the mouth and nose result from bacterial infection of skin lesions
Snuffles, aka "syphilitic rhinitis", which appears similar to the rhinitis of the common cold, except it is more severe, lasts longer, often involves bloody rhinorrhea, and is often associated with laryngitis
Sabre shins
Skin rashDeath from congenital syphilis is usually due to bleeding into the lungs. Diagnosis
Serological testing is carried out on the mother and the infant.
Congenital syphilis is syphilis present in utero and at birth, and occurs when a child is born to a mother with syphilis. Untreated early syphilis infections results in a high risk of poor pregnancy outcomes, including saddle nose, lower extremity abnormalities, miscarriages, premature births, stillbirths, or death in newborns. Some infants with congenital syphilis have symptoms at birth, but many develop symptoms later. Symptoms may include rash, fever, an enlarged liver and spleen, and skeletal abnormalities. Newborns will typically not develop a primary syphilitic chancre but may present with signs of secondary syphilis (i.e. generalized body rash). Often these babies will develop syphilitic rhinitis ("snuffles"), the mucus from which is laden with the T. pallidum bacterium, and therefore highly infectious. If a baby with congenital syphilis is not treated early, damage to the bones, teeth, eyes, ears, and brain can occur. Classification
Early
This is a subset of cases of congenital syphilis. Newborns may be asymptomatic and are only identified on routine prenatal screening. If not identified and treated, these newborns develop poor feeding and runny nose. By definition, early congenital syphilis occurs in children between 0 and 2 years old. After, they can develop late congenital syphilis. Late
Late congenital syphilis is a subset of cases of congenital syphilis.