Lyme-associated parkinsonism: a neuropathologic case study and review of the literature
Source
Laboratory of Pathology, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md 20892, USA.Abstract
Neurological complications of Lyme disease include meningitis, encephalitis, dementia, and, rarely, parkinsonism. We present a case of striatonigral degeneration, a form of multiple system atrophy, in Lyme-associated parkinsonism. A 63-year-old man presented with erythema migrans rash, joint pains, and tremors. Serum and cerebrospinal fluid antibodies and polymerase chain reaction for Borrelia burgdorferi were positive. Clinical parkinsonism was diagnosed by several neurologists. Despite treatment, the patient continued to decline, with progressive disability, cognitive dysfunction, rigidity, and pulmonary failure. At autopsy, the brain showed mild basal ganglia atrophy and substantia nigra depigmentation, with extensive striatal and substantia nigral neuronal loss and astrogliosis. No Lewy bodies were identified; however, ubiquitin-positive glial cytoplasmic inclusions were identified in striatal and nigral oligodendroglia. There were no perivascular or meningeal infiltrates, the classic findings of neuroborreliosis. To our knowledge, this is the first report of striatonigral degeneration in a patient with B burgdorferi infection of the central nervous system and clinical Lyme-associated parkinsonism.- PMID:
- 12946221
- [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
I am sorry I did Not find this sooner! I had/ Have Lymes an was treated 2 times doxy That was in 2008! in 2009 Had cervical surgery, Twice an stayed in brace almost 2 years due to non healing of bone. donor bone was of no use, used my hip an titanium second surgery, after nearly 18 months in full brace. I came out to be Diagnosed in 2011 with Parkinsons diesease, every since I had the lymes, I never recovered fully & my memory makes me ashamed & My Husband is already having to be a caregiver at 53 years old!!!! WHY????? Please lets educate what Lyme's can possibly be doing to us an get our heads out of the sand! I am losing my ability to move & communicate, my personality is all but forgotten, My smile is all but a memory in a picture. But I remember the day I was Bitten by the tick! it was a Great trip to Sea Shore State Park in Va bch Va with my grandchildren, We camped out for a week!!! Boy Nothing could stop me then. I just praise God the tick decided I was a better meal then my Baby's!
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