TY - JOUR
T1 - Acute transverse myelitis – A rare clinical manifestation of Lyme neuroborreliosis
AU - Dumic, Igor
AU - Vitorovic, Danilo
AU - Spritzer, Scott
AU - Sviggum, Erik
AU - Patel, Janki
AU - Ramanan, Poornima
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Acute transverse myelitis (ATM) is a rare, potentially devastating neurological syndrome that has variety of causes, infectious being one of them. Lyme disease (LD) is the most common vector borne zoonosis in the United States (U.S.). While neurologic complications of LD are common, acute transverse myelitis is an exceedingly rare complication. We present a case of a previously healthy 25-year-old man who presented with secondary erythema migrans, aseptic meningitis and clinical features of transverse myelitis including bilateral lower extremity motor and sensory deficits manifesting as weakness and numbness, urinary retention and constipation. Despite negative serum antibodies against Borrelia burgdoferi, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was positive for Borrelia burgdorferi PCR. Following treatment with methylprednisolone and ceftriaxone, he attained complete recovery apart from neurogenic bladder necessitating intermittent self-catheterization. We report rare manifestation of a common disease and emphasize the importance of considering LD in the differential diagnosis of acute transverse myelitis, particularly in residents of endemic areas.
AB - Acute transverse myelitis (ATM) is a rare, potentially devastating neurological syndrome that has variety of causes, infectious being one of them. Lyme disease (LD) is the most common vector borne zoonosis in the United States (U.S.). While neurologic complications of LD are common, acute transverse myelitis is an exceedingly rare complication. We present a case of a previously healthy 25-year-old man who presented with secondary erythema migrans, aseptic meningitis and clinical features of transverse myelitis including bilateral lower extremity motor and sensory deficits manifesting as weakness and numbness, urinary retention and constipation. Despite negative serum antibodies against Borrelia burgdoferi, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was positive for Borrelia burgdorferi PCR. Following treatment with methylprednisolone and ceftriaxone, he attained complete recovery apart from neurogenic bladder necessitating intermittent self-catheterization. We report rare manifestation of a common disease and emphasize the importance of considering LD in the differential diagnosis of acute transverse myelitis, particularly in residents of endemic areas.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.idcr.2018.e00479
DO - 10.1016/j.idcr.2018.e00479
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85059344139
SN - 2214-2509
VL - 15
JO - IDCases
JF - IDCases
M1 - e00479
ER -