The Many Faces of Lyme Borreliosis: A Retrospective Study Covering an 18-year Period

Abstract:

Lyme borreliosis is a bacterial infection caused by Borrelia burgdorferi transferred by the bite of the tick Ixodes. The disease Lyme borreliosis can affect many organs and therefor has many different clinical manifestations. In order to describe the many clinical manifestations and prescribed treatments in a real-life setting, a retrospective chart review of Lyme borreliosis cases covering an 18-year period was conducted at a large Scandinavian dermatological university department. A total of 69 patients were included. Patients’ mean age of time of diagnosis was 45 years, with a mean duration of symptoms of 9 months at time of diagnosis. Most patients presented with erythema migrans (56%), but acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans was also common and found in 41% of cases. All parts of the skin integument were affected, the most common being the lower extremity (57% of cases). On serological testing, most patients were IgG positive (41%), and the majority of patients were treated with penicillin V (82%). Lyme borreliosis and its many appearences should be known by all clinicians, since it has potentially severe multisystems manifestations, which can easily be avoided if a sufficient early curative treatment with antibiotics is prescribed.