Peripheral facial palsy: antibody levels to Borrelia in serum and CSF

Serum antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi antigen were determined in 71 consecutive patients with an acute peripheral facial palsy. The study was conducted for one year in a south western coastal region in Sweden. Twenty-one per cent of the patients had significantly elevated serum levels of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi antigen. CSF was examined in 13 of the sero-positive patients. In three of these (23%) Borrelia antibodies were found. Another five patients had a pathological protein and cell pattern in the CSF. No seasonal differences were observed. Four of the sero-positive patients had a long-term history of dermatological neurological manifestations compatible with the late third stage of the disease.