REPORT OF A CASE
In September 1990, a 27-year-old woman was admitted for treatment of early (latent?) syphilis. Serologic test results were as follows: rapid plasma reagin, strongly reactive; VDRL, negative; Treponema pallidum hemagglutination assay, strongly reactive; fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption test (FTA-ABS), mildly reactive; FTA-ABS, weakly reactive; and T pallidum—immobilization test, 91%. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome was negative. The woman had a history of two attacks of cervical gonorrhea. The first attack in 1989 was treated by penicillin G procaine intramuscularly, and the second one, in 1990, was treated by oral tetracycline. At that time, similar serologic tests for syphilis were negative. The patient felt healthy except for reddish nodules, plaques, and tumors on her left ear and forehead that had been developing, by history, since November 1990. These lesions occasionally bled but subjectively caused no trouble. Laboratory tests for hemoglobin, hematocrit, and