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CME

Neuroborreliosis: Pathogenesis, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment

  • Authors: Tobias A. Rupprecht, MD; Volker Fingerle, MD
  • CME Released: 3/7/2011
  • THIS ACTIVITY HAS EXPIRED FOR CREDIT
  • Valid for credit through: 3/7/2012
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Target Audience and Goal Statement

This activity is intended for primary care clinicians, infectious disease physicians, neurologists, and other health professionals caring for patients with Lyme disease.

The goal of this activity is to describe the pathogenesis, symptoms, diagnosis, and management of neuroborreliosis, based on a review.

Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

  1. Describe the epidemiology and pathogenesis of Lyme neuroborelliosis (LNB)
  2. Describe the characteristic symptoms and diagnosis of LNB
  3. Describe the treatment and management of LNB


Disclosures

As an organization accredited by the ACCME, Medscape, LLC, requires everyone who is in a position to control the content of an education activity to disclose all relevant financial relationships with any commercial interest. The ACCME defines "relevant financial relationships" as financial relationships in any amount, occurring within the past 12 months, including financial relationships of a spouse or life partner, that could create a conflict of interest.

Medscape, LLC, encourages Authors to identify investigational products or off-label uses of products regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration, at first mention and where appropriate in the content.


Author(s)

  • Tobias A. Rupprecht, MD

    Abteilung für Neurologie, AmperKliniken AG Dachau, Dachau, Germany

    Disclosures

    Disclosure: Tobias A. Rupprecht, MD, disclosed the following relevant financial relationships:
    Served as a consultant for: Genzyme Corporation; Mikrogen; Virotech

  • Volker Fingerle, MD

    National Reference Centre for Borrelia, LGL Oberschleißheim, Germany

    Disclosures

    Disclosure: Volker Fingerle, MD, has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

Editor(s)

  • Elisa Manzotti

    Editorial Director, Future Science Group, London, United Kingdom

    Disclosures

    Disclosure: Elisa Manzotti has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

CME Author(s)

  • Laurie Barclay, MD

    Freelance writer and reviewer, Medscape, LLC

    Disclosures

    Disclosure: Laurie Barclay, MD, has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

CME Reviewer(s)

  • Nafeez Zawahir, MD

    CME Clinical Director, Medscape, LLC

    Disclosures

    Disclosure: Nafeez Zawahir, MD, has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

  • Sarah Fleischman

    CME Program Manager, Medscape, LLC

    Disclosures

    Disclosure: Sarah Fleischman has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.


Accreditation Statements

    For Physicians

  • This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint sponsorship of Medscape, LLC and Future Medicine Ltd. Medscape, LLC is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

    Medscape, LLC designates this Journal-based CME activity for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ . Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

    Medscape, LLC staff have disclosed that they have no relevant financial relationships.

    Contact This Provider

For questions regarding the content of this activity, contact the accredited provider for this CME/CE activity noted above. For technical assistance, contact [email protected]


Instructions for Participation and Credit

There are no fees for participating in or receiving credit for this online educational activity. For information on applicability and acceptance of continuing education credit for this activity, please consult your professional licensing board.

This activity is designed to be completed within the time designated on the title page; physicians should claim only those credits that reflect the time actually spent in the activity. To successfully earn credit, participants must complete the activity online during the valid credit period that is noted on the title page.

Follow these steps to earn CME/CE credit*:

  1. Read the target audience, learning objectives, and author disclosures.
  2. Study the educational content online or printed out.
  3. Online, choose the best answer to each test question. To receive a certificate, you must receive a passing score as designated at the top of the test. Medscape Education encourages you to complete the Activity Evaluation to provide feedback for future programming.

You may now view or print the certificate from your CME/CE Tracker. You may print the certificate but you cannot alter it. Credits will be tallied in your CME/CE Tracker and archived for 6 years; at any point within this time period you can print out the tally as well as the certificates by accessing "Edit Your Profile" at the top of your Medscape homepage.

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CME

Neuroborreliosis: Pathogenesis, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment: Treatment

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Treatment

While the diagnosis of LNB might be challenging, the therapy is both easy and well defined. Several studies have documented a response to 10–28-day courses of intravenous ceftriaxone (2 or 4 g daily), intravenous penicillin (20 million units daily), intravenous cefotaxime (3 × 2 g or 2 × 3 g daily) and oral doxycycline (200 mg daily). An overview of the treatment trials is reported by Mygland et al.[139] Significant resistance of B. burgdorferi to one of these antibiotics is reported to be very rare. A recent Norwegian class I study of 102 LNB patients has shown that oral doxycycline (200 mg daily for 14 days) is noninferior to a 14-day course of intravenous ceftriaxon (2 g per day).[157] Therefore, as already suggested by a North American meta-analysis,[158] both ceftriaxone and doxycycline are equal alternatives and are recommended first-line therapies for acute LNB. Doxycycline has the advantage of an oral route of administration.

The duration of treatment should be 14 days, although there are studies that recommend either a shorter therapy course of only 10 days (with a 2-year treatment failure-free survival rate of 99%),[134] while others discuss the need for 28 days of antibiotic therapy (especially for late LNB). No well-designed study so far could clearly demonstrate the need for prolonged antibiotic treatment beyond 1 month of treatment, as discussed previously. Therefore, oral adjunct antibiotics are not justified in the treatment of patients with LNB, who initially received an adequate intravenous ceftriaxone therapy.[159]

The outcome after antibiotic treatment is generally good. The pain, typical for Bannwarth’s syndrome, rapidly decreases under antibiotic therapy, and patients might be free of complaints even after one antibiotic dose [Rupprecht TA, Personal Observation].[160] Objective findings after 1 year are mostly discrete and can be observed in approximately 16–28% of patients. A delayed treatment initiation in particular is considered a risk factor for these persistent findings.[122,132,137] Persisting, objective symptoms after an adequate course of antibiotics are either due to irreversible damage (e.g., a limb paresis due to axonal loss) or might reflect a misdiagnosis in the majority of cases. Subjective symptoms can be more frequent, and the relevance of this was discussed previously. In rare cases, the borrelial infection might have initiated an autoimmune reaction due to molecular mimicry.[119] To differentiate between both pathogenic mechanisms, the determination of CXCL13 as the most reliable activity and treatment marker can be useful. The serology is not helpful as a follow-up marker: in only approximately 50% of patients does the antibody titer markedly decrease after 12 months.[159]