Neurocognition in Post-Treatment Lyme Disease and Major Depressive Disorder.

Objective: Neurocognitive dysfunction in patients with residual or emergent symptoms after treatment for Lyme Disease is often attributed to comorbid depression. In this study, patients with Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS) were compared to patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), as well as healthy comparison subjects (HC), on neurocognitive measures administered through the same laboratory, to determine if patterns of performance were similar.

Methods: Two analyses were conducted.

Regional cerebral blood flow and metabolic rate in persistent Lyme encephalopathy.

Context: There is controversy regarding whether objective neurobiological abnormalities exist after intensive antibiotic treatment for Lyme disease.

Objectives: To determine whether patients with a history of well-characterized Lyme disease and persistent cognitive deficit show abnormalities in global or topographic distributions of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) or cerebral metabolic rate (rCMR).

Design: Case-controlled study.

A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of repeated IV antibiotic therapy for Lyme encephalopathy.

Background: Optimal treatment remains uncertain for patients with cognitive impairment that persists or returns after standard IV antibiotic therapy for Lyme disease.

Methods: Patients had well-documented Lyme disease, with at least 3 weeks of prior IV antibiotics, current positive IgG Western blot, and objective memory impairment. Healthy individuals served as controls for practice effects.

WAIS-III and WMS-III performance in chronic Lyme disease.

There is controversy regarding the nature and degree of intellectual and memory deficits in chronic Lyme disease. In this study, 81 participants with rigorously diagnosed chronic Lyme disease were administered the newest revisions of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-III) and Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS-III), and compared to 39 nonpatients. On the WAIS-III, Lyme disease participants had poorer Full Scale and Performance IQ's.