Lyme Science Blog

Case reports: Lyme disease infection causes carditis In their article, “Lyme-Associated Pericarditis: A Case Report and Literature Review,” Ameer and colleagues describe an 18-year-old man who developed pericarditis due to Lyme disease.1 The patient who had a medical history of asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, and obsessive-compulsive disorder presented to the emergency department with complaints of […]

Autopsy reveals multiple Borrelia species in brain of man with chronic Lyme disease In their article, “Concurrent Infection of the Human Brain with Multiple Borrelia Species,” Golovchenko and colleagues describe the case involving a post-mortem brain autopsy on a man who suffered for more than 10 years with neurologic and psychiatric symptoms due to Lyme

Lyme disease or dementia? The authors describe a case in which an elderly man with dementia was referred to an Alzheimer’s Disease Care Unit but later tested positive for Lyme disease. The 75-year-old man reportedly had only mild memory loss but was admitted to the unit due to hallucinations, confusion and aggressive behavior. Two weeks

A unique presentation of Lyme disease rash In their study, “Atypical Lyme Disease Rash: A Case Report,” Khanna et al. describe the case of a 69-year-old woman, who tested negative for Lyme disease (according to CDC criteria), yet presented with an atypical Lyme rash. “Our patient only had one band positive on Western blot testing,

Muscle Weakness and Constipation—But Tests Are Normal? Quick Answer: Muscle weakness and constipation in Lyme disease may be caused by neurologic and autonomic nervous system dysfunction—even when imaging and gastrointestinal tests are normal. This is a classic Lyme disease pattern: real symptoms—but normal tests. Why this matters: When muscle weakness and constipation occur together, they

How does Lyme disease affect the brain? Marvel and colleagues administered working memory tests to 12 subjects with Post Treatment Lyme disease (PTLD) and 18 healthy controls while undergoing functional MRI (fMRI). Investigators aimed to determine, using multimodal neuroimaging methods, how Lyme disease may affect the brain. A fMRI looks at the function of the

Lyme disease causes diaphragm paralysis, resulting in breathing problems According to the authors, diaphragm paralysis as a complication of Lyme disease was first reported in 1986. Since then, there have only been 4 cases involving bilateral paralysis of the diaphragm, which can cause breathing problems in patients.  “… the presented case will be the fifth

Lyme-induced cardiac problems persist despite antibiotic treatment The young woman was admitted to the emergency department with acute pleuritic chest pain and shortness of breath. (Pleuritic chest pain is characterized by sudden and intense sharp, stabbing, or burning pain in the chest when inhaling and exhaling.) The woman exhibited only mild tachycardia (100/min). However, “Considering

Case report: Meningitis secondary to Lyme disease Lyme disease aseptic meningitis can present as normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) with dementia, confusion, and gait disturbance — leading doctors to miss the underlying infection. An 80-year-old man in Pennsylvania developed progressive weakness, confusion, nausea, and fatigue over several days. CSF studies showed aseptic meningitis, CT scan revealed

Borrelia antibodies found in patients with coronary heart disease How many patients who underwent surgery for coronary heart disease (CHD) had evidence of a prior infection with Borrelia burgdorferi (the bacterium which causes Lyme disease)? A study by Pietruszka and colleagues, “Serologic Status of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in Patients with Cardiovascular Changes,” sought to