About the histology of healthy-looking skin in syphilis

The histological picture of normal skin in syphilis was first studied by the Russian syphilidologist Pavlov (in 1895). In children with congenital syphilis, in 5 cases, he found such drastic changes in the vessels of the skin and various organs that he even considered it possible to see them as the cause of death. Later, however, Pavlov continued his research on the material of skin biopsied from persons with acquired syphilis and taken from 2 syphilitics who died from an accidental acute illness. As a control, he used skin taken from 3 tuberculosis corpses. Based on these studies, Pavlov came to the conclusion that the changes they found in the skin — swelling of the vascular endothelium, its proliferation until the lumen is completely blocked, infiltrates around the vessels and appendages, skin — are not specific for syphilis, since they are also found in tuberculosis.