Author/Editor     Mravljak, Marija; Velnar, Tomaž
Title     Elektrokardiografske spremembe pri otrocih z erythema migrans
Type     monografija
Place     Ljubljana
Publisher     Univerza v Ljubljani, Medicinska fakulteta
Publication year     2004
Volume     str. 29
Language     slo
Abstract     Background. Lyme borreliosis is a worldwide tick-borne illness, caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. People of all age groups fall ill. The number of cases rises every year. The disease progresses on an unpredictable course and affects different organ systems. It can also be asymptomatic. Early stadium rash, erythema migrans, and later neurologic, cardiac, and musculoskeletal involvement are distinctive for manifest infection. In chronic stadium, skin, joints, and nervous system are affected. The most accurate and most common clinical sign of the disease is erythema migrans. Lyme borreliosis is most successfully treated by antibiotics in its early phase. Aim. During the course of the disease the heart is also involved. There are not much data about Lyme carditis in children with Lyme borreliosis. The principal clinical signs are conduction disturbances, myopericarditis, and cardiomyopathies. Early diagnosed electrocardiographic changes could influence the choice of antibiotic treatment and prognosis. We studied the electrocardiographic changes in children with erythema migrans and compared them with electrocardiographic findings from a healthy control group of the same sex and comparable age. Hypothesis. We assumed that electrocardiographic changes in ill children with erythema migrans are more frequent than in healthy children of the same sex and comparable age. Methods. 147 children with typical erythema migrans were included on our prospective study. They were examined from 1. l. to 31. 12. 2003 at The Clinical Department of Infectious Diseases in Ljubljana. The control group consisted of 148 healthy children of the same sex and comparable age. Electrocardiographs were obtained in patients and control group. (Abstract truncated at 2000 characters).
Descriptors     LYME DISEASE
ERYTHEMA CHRONICUM MIGRANS
ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHY
BORRELIA BURGDORFERI
ANTIBODIES, BACTERIAL
CHILD