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Updated: Jul 25, 2025
07:20
Detecting the Lyme Disease Spirochete, Borrelia Burgdorferi, in Ticks Using Nested PCR
Published on: February 4, 2018
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SYNCOPE: A RARE PRESENTATION OF LYME DISEASE
Rylee Pence1, Bethany Johnston1
1Department of Emergency Medicine, Summa Health System, Akron, Ohio.
The Journal of Emergency Medicine
|June 24, 2023
Summary
Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness, can cause serious cardiac and neurologic issues if not treated early. Emergency physicians should consider Lyme disease in patients with flu-like symptoms in endemic areas.
Area of Science:
- Infectious Diseases
- Cardiology
- Neurology
Background:
- Lyme disease is a common United States vector-borne illness caused by Borrelia burgdorferi.
- Transmitted by Ixodes ticks, it can rarely disseminate to affect cardiac or neurologic systems.
Observation:
- A 41-year-old man presented with syncope, right bundle branch block, and borderline AV nodal block.
- He also experienced night sweats and elevated procalcitonin.
- Diagnostic workup revealed recent Borrelia burgdorferi infection (positive IgM, negative IgG).
Findings:
- The patient's presentation mimicked other emergencies but was attributed to early Lyme disease.
- Positive Borrelia IgM and negative IgG confirmed a recent infection.
Implications:
- Emergency physicians must include Lyme disease in the differential diagnosis for patients with non-specific symptoms during warmer months in endemic regions.
- Prompt treatment with doxycycline can prevent severe cardiac or neurologic complications of disseminated Lyme disease.
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