[Deglutition disorders in Lyme disease with severe neurological involvement]

A 67-year old man consulted for dysphagia to solid food and weight loss. Four years earlier he had developed Lyme disease with severe neurological involvement. Magnetic resonance imaging showed, on T2-weighted sequences, multifocal high-intensity signals located in the periventricular white matter and the brain stem. The disorders of deglutition were evaluated by cineradiography and manometry which showed deficient relaxation of the superior esophageal sphincter and delayed initiation of the pharyngeal phase; intrapharyngeal propulsion was preserved. On the basis of these findings cricopharyngeal myotomy was performed with subsequent improvement of the disorders. Treatment with doxycycline was prescribed. The significance of these deglutition disorders as regards infection and neurology is discussed and it should have therapeutic implications.