SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS PRECEDED BY FALSE-POSITIVE SEROLOGIC TESTS FOR SYPHILIS: PRESENTATION OF FIVE CASES *

BIOLOGIC false-positive serologic tests for syphilis have frequently been observed in patients with all types of lupus erythematosus.1"6 The time relationship between the development of these serologic alterations and the onset of clinical manifestations of lupus erythematosus is unknown. We have been unable to find reports of cases in which false-positive tests for syphilis were observed prior to the clinical manifestations of lupus erythematosus (L. K). The purpose of this communication is to report five cases in which false-positive serologic tests for syphilis were observed before the onset of clinical manifestations of systemic (positive plasma L. E. test7'1X) lupus erythe-matosus. In a series of 29 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus observed at the Cleveland Clinic during the past two years, seven have had positive serologic tests for syphilis. In one, a history of infectious syphilitic lesions was obtained. Another, a 13 year old girl, was found to have positiv