Abstract
The paper concerns with subjective complaints in patients after lege-artis treated neuroborreliosis (NB). This retrospective study included 88 patients, who responded to a questionnaire regarding further development of their disease.
At the time of our follow-up, the patients had clinical disease compatible with NB, together with a positive antibody index CSF/seruin and/or positive PCR in the CSF. The most common clinical manifestation of NB was Bannwarth syndrome (26 patients) and mild meningitis or meningo-encephalitis (34 patients), 8 patients had meningoencephaloradiculitis, 10 had meningomononeuritis (n.
VIIth lesion). Five patients had clinical manifestations of artralgias with headache.
Subjective symptoms disappeared within 6 months after treatment in 42 patients (49 %), within 1 year in another 10 (8%), in 3 patients, the problems persisted for up to 3 years (3 %) and in 33 (37%) the problems lasted more than 3 years. Objective neurological findings have normalized immediately after therapy in 49 patients (56%), very mild neurological changes were found in 24 (27%) of those followed-up, in 14 patients (17%), the findings were more extensive.
Six months after therapy, neurological findings were normalized in 72 patients (82%) and 11 (13%) had very mild residual findings. In five patients (5%), more significant changes persisted.
The most frequent subjective complaints in patients after therapy were headache (65, 74%), psychic complaints (tension, depression, fatigue - 61, 69%), joint pain (33, 38%) and muscle pain (20, 23%). Despite the high percentage of patients having subjective complaints in the subsequent course of the disease, only 8 patients sought further medical help for borreliosis and none of those underwent repeat treatment with antibiotics.
Based upon these results, post-borrelia syndrome can be expected in a subset of patients.