Syphilis of the stomach is of considerable pathologic interest because it is rarely diagnosed. Although the affection is infrequent, the value of recognizing its presence is enhanced for clinicians by the fact that serious complications, amenable to treatment, have arisen in two out of sixteen cases thus far reported. One is the case of Fraenkel,1 in which extensive syphilitic ulceration resulted in general peritonitis and death; the other is a perforated syphilitic ulcer of the stomach reported by Flexner.2
Undoubted instances of stomach syphilis have been described by the following: Chiari3 (2 cases), Klebs4 (1 case), Cornil and Ranvier5 (1 case), Fraenkel1 (1 case), Stolper6 (1 case), Flexner2 (1 case), Weichselbaum7 (1 case), Birch-Hirschfeld8 (4 cases), Buday9 (1 case), Bittner (3 cases).
A summary of literature with synopsis of cases to date shows four important factors which play a