TUESDAY, April 21, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Infection with syphilis is associated with an increased risk for several major adverse cardiovascular outcomes and death, according to a study published online April 13 in JAMA Network Open.
Eli Tsakiris, from Tulane Research Innovation for Arrhythmia Discovery in New Orleans, and colleagues examined whether syphilis infection is independently associated with an increased risk for adverse cardiovascular outcomes in a U.S. health system population in a retrospective cohort study with 15-year follow-up. Data were included for 8,814 participants: 1,469 adults with syphilis and 7,345 controls matched on demographic characteristics and comorbidities.
The researchers found that syphilis was associated with an increased risk for aortic aneurysm or dissection, ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, peripheral artery disease, death, and myocardial infarction in adjusted analyses (hazard ratios, 2.08, 1.53, 1.92, 1.28, 5.80, and 1.33, respectively). There were no associations seen for heart failure, atrial fibrillation, aortic regurgitation, or venous thromboembolism.
"This is one of the few modern large population studies to find that syphilis can be associated with catastrophic cardiovascular and neurologic effects," Tsakiris said in a statement. "Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. and with syphilis cases rising recently, this association is something that all providers treating high-risk patients need to be aware of."
Two authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical and medical device industries.