Abstract: Objective To study the cause of misdiagnosis of early syphilis and evaluate the significance of histopathology in the diagnosis of the disease.Methods 39 misdiagnosed cases of early syphilis were analyzed, and 12 of them were performed with histopathological examination.Results Primary syphilis was found to be commonly misdiagnosed as genital herpes,and scabies nodules, in male patients, and misdiagnosed as acute vulvovaginal ulcer and chancroid in females. For secondary syphilis, macular syphilide and maculopapular syphilide were easily misdiagnosed as dermatitis or pityriasis rosea; papulosquamous syphilide as psoriasis vulgaris, and condyloma latum as condyloma acuminatum.Conclusion The histopathology is of great significance in the diagnosis of primary syphilis、condyloma latum and papulosquamous syphilide, but of limitid value for macular syphilide.

Key words: Syphilis, Diagnostic errors