Tick-borne meningopolyneuritis (Garin-Bujadoux, Bannwarth)

Abstract

We studied 100 patients with tick-borne meningopolyneuritis (Garin-Bujadoux, Bannwarth), the neurologic component of European erythema chronicum migrans disease. They had intensive radicular pain, asymmetric polyneuritis combined often with uni- or bilateral facial palsy, lymphocytic meningitis without or with only slight meningismus, and a course lasting three to five months. Neurologic abnormalities were preceded by the bite of a tick or an insect in 37 percent of patients or by an erythema in 41 percent. In addition, many patients had extraneural involvement, such as fever or fatigue. The outcome was favorable in all cases, and occurred faster with antibiotic treatment, but a few patients had slight residual peripheral nervous system deficits.