Abstract
Purpose :
To describe the epidemiologic and clinical findings of ocular Lyme disease in patients from a referral center in Mexico City.
Methods :
We reviewed the electronic records from patients with Lyme disease diagnosed from 2011 to 2019. We included patients with positive serological test and western blot tests. We described the patients characteristics and clinical findings using stata (StataCorp LLC, USA) statistical software.
Results :
We identified a total of 7 cases, female patients represented 71.34% (n=7) of the study participants. The mean age was 34.57 ±13.36 years. Unilateral manifestations were observed in 57.14% (n=4) of the cases and bilateral manifestations in 42.86% (n=3). Systemic symptoms were positive in 71.43% (n=5) of which 80% (n=4) were arthralgia and headache 20% (n=1). The mean visual acuity at the initial visit was 0.84 ±0.57 (logMAR) and the best-corrected visual acuity was 0.65 ±0.44 (logMAR). Fifty-seven percent (n=4) of participants were residents of rural zones and 3 (42.86%) lived in urban areas. The ocular clinical finding of the patients were disc edema in 57.14% (n=4) of which 50% (n=2) was unilateral and 50% (n=2) was bilateral, afferent pupillary defect was present in 42.86% (n=3), anterior uveitis 14.28% (n=1), oculomotor palsy (III nerve) was present in 14.28% (n=1) and retinitis in 14.28% (n=1). The median time to reach the diagnosis was 136 (17-272) days. None of the patients have a history of travelling abroad.
Conclusions :
Although studies have reported a few cases of Borrelia burgdorferi infection in Mexico, to our knowledge this is the first study to describe the ocular involvement of Lyme disease in a Mexican population. The characteristics of the patients and their clinical history give epidemiological insights that may suggest Lyme as an endemic disease in Mexico. Lyme disease has a wide variety of ocular clinical manifestations and we should keep it in mind as a possible diagnosis to provide an earlier treatment and better prognosis for the patient.
This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.