ABSTRACT
Syphilis can mimic, clinically and microscopically, many other diseases. By microscopy, typically syphilis presents with plasma cell infiltration, admixed with lymphocytes and macrophages, in lichenoid and/or perivascular/perineural distribution pattern. When exuberant, this inflammatory infiltrate can mimic a lymphoproliferative disorder (LPD), notably plasma cell neoplasia or lymphoma. To date, about 12 cases of secondary syphilis, all but one in extraoral location, suggesting initially a LPD, have been published. Here, to our knowledge, we report an unusual case of intraoral primary syphilis initially suggesting LPD, notably lymphoid hyperplasia (pseudolymphoma); however, mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma and follicular lymphoma could not be disregarded. Polyclonality of plasma cells on immunohistochemistry, in strict clinical correlation, was essential to arrive at the correct diagnosis.
