TABLE 1.

Clinical information and laboratory data for five patients with EM and culture-confirmed persistent B. burgdorferi sensu lato infection after conclusion of antimicrobial chemotherapy^a

Characteristic	Clinical data for EM patient:
	1	2	3	4	5
Clinical information
Sex	F	F	F	F	M
Age (yrs)	43	38	53	68	36
Symptom(s) at first visit	MEM	EM	EM	EM, BL, PFP	EM, BL
Tick bite remembered	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
Time (days) between tick bite and onset of EM	10	26	NK	NK	19
No. of EM lesions	2	1	1	1	1
Size of EM (cm)	7 by 12; 6 by 8	10 by 16	7 by 11	9 by 12	7 by 12
Systemic complaint(s)b	No	No	Yes	No	No
Time (days) between onset of symptoms and treatment	1	11	5	7	4
Initial treatment	Ceftriaxone, 1 dose, 2 g, i.v., 14 days	Amoxicillin, 3 doses, 500 mg, p.o., 14 days	Cefuroxime, 2 doses, 500 mg, p.o., 14 days	Cefuroxime, 2 doses, 500 mg, p.o., 14 days	Azithromycin, 2 doses, 500 mg, p.o., 1 day; 1 dose, 500 mg, p.o., 4 days
Duration of EM (days) after initiation of treatment	4	12	14	10	3
Laboratory data
IgM-IFT (titerc)	256	128	Neg.	Neg.	Neg.
IgG-IFT (titerc)	128	128	Neg.	Neg.	Neg.
Time (wks) between first biopsy and positive culture	4	4	4	4	2
Genospecies cultured after first biopsy	B. afzelii	B. garinii	B. afzelii	B. afzelii	B. afzelii
Time (days) between start of treatment and second biopsy	40	39	55	56	69
Time (wks) between second biopsy and positive culture	4	5	2.5	4	6
Genospecies cultured after second biopsy	B. afzelii	B. garinii	B. afzelii	B. afzelii	B. garinii

^aAbbreviations: F, female; M, male; MEM, multiple EM; BL, borrelial lymphocytoma; PFP, peripheral facial palsy; NK, not known; i.v., intravenously; p.o., orally; Neg., negative; IFT, indirect fluorescent antibody test; IgM, immunoglobulin M; IgG, immunoglobulin G.

^bFever, headache, and/or myalgia.

^cNo significant titer change was noted at the second biopsy.