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[Cardiac manifestations of Lyme disease]
Annales De Medecine Interne
|January 1, 1986
Insights
Lyme disease can cause heart problems like myocarditis and AV block. Antibiotic treatment effectively resolves these cardiac complications in patients.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Infectious Diseases
- Neurology
Background:
- Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness, can manifest with various systemic complications.
- Cardiac involvement in Lyme disease, though uncommon, requires careful monitoring and management.
Observation:
- Three cases of Lyme disease with cardiac manifestations are presented.
- One patient experienced symptomatic complete atrioventricular (AV) block due to myocarditis.
- Two patients had asymptomatic first-degree AV block.
Findings:
- Cardiac changes, including conduction defects, appeared 18-40 days post-infection and lasted approximately 10 days.
- Echocardiography revealed no abnormalities in affected patients.
- Conduction defects demonstrated variability, changing within hours.
Implications:
- Early recognition and prompt antibiotic therapy are crucial for managing cardiac Lyme disease.
- Antibiotic treatment led to rapid and complete resolution of cardiac symptoms.
- This highlights the importance of cardiac evaluation in Lyme disease patients presenting with neurological or systemic symptoms.
Abstract:
Three cases of Lyme's disease with cardiac involvement are reported. One patient had myocarditis complicated by symptomatic complete AV block and two patients had asymptomatic 1st degree AV block. There were no abnormalities on echocardiography. The cardiac changes occurred between the 18th and 40th day after the onset of the disease and persisted 10 days: however these conduction defects may vary within a few hours. A rapid and complete cure was obtained with antibiotic therapy.