Pseudo-chancre Redux with Negative Serology. a Case Report.

Pseudo-chancre redux is rare and is defined as a gummatous (tertiary stage) recurrence at the site of the primary chancre (Stokes, Beerman, and Ingraham, 1944). The condition must be distinguished clinically and nosologically from chancre redux (monorecidive), which is an infectious relapse during the early phase of syphilis, at the site of the original chancre, from which treponemes may be recovered. In the tertiary stage of the late phase of syphilis, the routine serological tests for syphilis (Wassermann, Kahn) are usually positive and the Treponema pallidum immobilization (TPI) test almost invariably so. We report here a patient with pseudo-chancre redux in whom both the standard serological tests and the TPI were negative.