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Semin Neurol 2011; 31(3): 317-324
DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1287652
© Thieme Medical Publishers

Nervous System Lyme Disease: Is There a Controversy?

John J. Halperin1 , 2
  • 1Department of Neurosciences, Overlook Hospital and Atlantic Neuroscience Institute, Summit, New Jersey
  • 2Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York
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Publication History

Publication Date:
30 September 2011 (online)

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ABSTRACT

Infection with the tick-borne spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, affects the nervous system in well-defined ways. Accurate diagnostic tools and effective therapeutic regimens are now well established. Persistent misconceptions about (1) the role and interpretation of laboratory tests, (2) what is and is not evidence of nervous system infection, and (3) what constitutes an expected response to treatment have fostered widespread perceptions that this disease is highly controversial. Infection causes the classically described triad of meningitis, radiculoneuritis, and cranial neuritis; however, virtually every known neurologic disorder has been blamed on this infection. For most (multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease), evidence is scant, nonexistent, or coincidental. For some (cerebral vasculitis with stroke, optic neuritis) a few case reports suggest a rare possible causal link.

KEYWORDS

Lyme disease - nervous system - neuroborreliosis - Garin-Bujadoux-Bannwarth syndrome - Borrelia burgdorferi

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John J HalperinM.D. 

Chair, Department of Neurosciences, Overlook Hospital and Atlantic Neuroscience Institute

99 Beauvoir Avenue, Summit, NJ 07902

Email: john.halperin@atlantichealth.org