NYMC Faculty Publications
Erythema Migrans in Patients With Post-Traumatic Splenectomy
Author Type(s)
Faculty
DOI
10.3390/microorganisms12071465
Journal Title
Microorganisms
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-19-2024
Department
Medicine
Keywords
Lyme borreliosis, Lyme disease, erythema migrans, impaired immunity, splenectomy, treatment failure
Abstract
Information on asplenic Lyme borreliosis (LB) patients with erythema migrans (EM) is lacking. We compared the course and outcome of 26 EM episodes in 24 post-trauma splenectomized patients (median age 51 years) diagnosed at a single clinical center in Slovenia during 1994-2023 with those of 52 age- and sex-matched patients with EM but with no history of splenectomy. All patients were followed for one year. A comparison of pre-treatment characteristics revealed that EM in splenectomized patients was of shorter duration before diagnosis (4 vs. 8 days, p = 0.034) with a smaller EM diameter (10.5 vs. 14 cm, p = 0.046), and more frequently fulfilled criteria for disseminated LB (3/26, 11.5% vs. 0%, p = 0.034). Treatment failure occurred in 5/26 (19.2%) EM episodes in splenectomized patients versus 0/52 in non-splenectomized patients (p = 0.003). The five treatment failure cases were retreated with antibiotic regimens used to treat EM and had complete resolution of all symptoms/signs. In conclusion, our study showed that splenectomized adult patients with EM differ somewhat in presentation and more often have treatment failure compared with non-splenectomized patients with EM.
Recommended Citation
Maraspin, V., Ogrinc, K., Bogovič, P., Rojko, T., Ružić-Sabljić, E., Wormser, G. P., & Strle, F. (2024). Erythema Migrans in Patients With Post-Traumatic Splenectomy. Microorganisms, 12 (7). https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12071465
