Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry logoLink to Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry
. 1989 Aug;52(8):1002–1005. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.52.8.1002

Myositis during Borrelia burgdorferi infection (Lyme disease).

J Schoenen 1, J Sianard-Gainko 1, M Carpentier 1, M Reznik 1
PMCID: PMC1031843  PMID: 2795056

Abstract

During the second stage of an illness caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, a young woman developed a myopathic syndrome characterised by severe muscular pains, incapacitating weakness of the proximal limb and the neck, as well as the bulbar muscles and elevated serum CK levels. Muscle biopsy revealed a non-inflammatory necrotising myopathy. B. burgdorferi infection was confirmed by a considerable rise of specific IgG antibodies. A course of high dose steroids alleviated the myalgias, but paresis began to improve only after treatment with antibiotics. Our observations confirm that B burgdorferi can cause, through an undertermined mechanism, a necrotising myopathy, in addition to the wide spectrum of already known neurological complications.

Full text

PDF
1004

Images in this article

1003Image
on p.1003
1003Image
on p.1003
1003Image
on p.1003

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Barbour A. G., Heiland R. A., Howe T. R. Heterogeneity of major proteins in Lyme disease borreliae: a molecular analysis of North American and European isolates. J Infect Dis. 1985 Sep;152(3):478–484. doi: 10.1093/infdis/152.3.478. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Burgdorfer W., Barbour A. G., Hayes S. F., Benach J. L., Grunwaldt E., Davis J. P. Lyme disease-a tick-borne spirochetosis? Science. 1982 Jun 18;216(4552):1317–1319. doi: 10.1126/science.7043737. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Corey L., Whitley R. J., Stone E. F., Mohan K. Difference between herpes simplex virus type 1 and type 2 neonatal encephalitis in neurological outcome. Lancet. 1988 Jan 2;1(8575-6):1–4. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(88)90997-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Craft J. E., Grodzicki R. L., Steere A. C. Antibody response in Lyme disease: evaluation of diagnostic tests. J Infect Dis. 1984 May;149(5):789–795. doi: 10.1093/infdis/149.5.789. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Duffy J., Mertz L. E. Serologic testing for Lyme disease. Ann Intern Med. 1985 Sep;103(3):458–458. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-103-3-458. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Finkel M. F. Lyme disease and its neurologic complications. Arch Neurol. 1988 Jan;45(1):99–104. doi: 10.1001/archneur.1988.00520250105031. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Henriksson A. Immunoglobulin producing cells in nervous system diseases. Acta Neurol Scand Suppl. 1986;104:1–109. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hirsch E., Sellal F., Christmann D., Steinmetz G., Monteil H., Jesel M., Warter J. M., Collard M. Les méningo-radiculites après morsure de tique. Etude de 31 cas. Rev Neurol (Paris) 1987;143(3):182–188. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Magnarelli L. A., Anderson J. F., Barbour A. G. The etiologic agent of Lyme disease in deer flies, horse flies, and mosquitoes. J Infect Dis. 1986 Aug;154(2):355–358. doi: 10.1093/infdis/154.2.355. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Midgard R., Hofstad H. Unusual manifestations of nervous system Borrelia burgdorferi infection. Arch Neurol. 1987 Jul;44(7):781–783. doi: 10.1001/archneur.1987.00520190085021. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Pachner A. R., Steere A. C. The triad of neurologic manifestations of Lyme disease: meningitis, cranial neuritis, and radiculoneuritis. Neurology. 1985 Jan;35(1):47–53. doi: 10.1212/wnl.35.1.47. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Reik L., Steere A. C., Bartenhagen N. H., Shope R. E., Malawista S. E. Neurologic abnormalities of Lyme disease. Medicine (Baltimore) 1979 Jul;58(4):281–294. doi: 10.1097/00005792-197907000-00001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Schlesinger P. A. Lyme disease. Minn Med. 1986 Jun;69(6):369–370. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Steere A. C., Bartenhagen N. H., Craft J. E., Hutchinson G. J., Newman J. H., Rahn D. W., Sigal L. H., Spieler P. N., Stenn K. S., Malawista S. E. The early clinical manifestations of Lyme disease. Ann Intern Med. 1983 Jul;99(1):76–82. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-99-1-76. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Steere A. C., Batsford W. P., Weinberg M., Alexander J., Berger H. J., Wolfson S., Malawista S. E. Lyme carditis: cardiac abnormalities of Lyme disease. Ann Intern Med. 1980 Jul;93(1):8–16. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-93-1-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Steere A. C., Broderick T. F., Malawista S. E. Erythema chronicum migrans and Lyme arthritis: epidemiologic evidence for a tick vector. Am J Epidemiol. 1978 Oct;108(4):312–321. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a112625. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Steere A. C., Malawista S. E., Bartenhagen N. H., Spieler P. N., Newman J. H., Rahn D. W., Hutchinson G. J., Green J., Snydman D. R., Taylor E. The clinical spectrum and treatment of Lyme disease. Yale J Biol Med. 1984 Jul-Aug;57(4):453–461. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES