Cultivation of Borrelia burgdorferi from the blood of two patients with erythema migrans lesions lacking extracutaneous signs and symptoms of Lyme disease

Abstract

Background: We recently demonstrated that cultivation of Borrelia burgdorferi from skin biopsy specimens obtained from erythema migrans lesions was an efficacious procedure to confirm the diagnosis of Lyme disease.

Objective: Our purpose was to investigate the efficacy of our microbiologic technique on blood samples obtained from patients with Lyme disease and erythema migrans.

Methods: Whole blood samples were obtained from 52 patients with erythema migrans and early localized or early disseminated Lyme disease and placed into polystyrene tubes containing 6 ml of modified Barbour-Stoenner-Kelly medium, processed, and examined for B. burgdorferi by dark-field microscopy.

Results: B. burgdorferi was cultured from the blood of two of our 52 patients (4%). Clinically, both of these patients were considered to have early localized Lyme disease.

Conclusion: The culture of B. burgdorferi from the blood of patients with early Lyme disease does not appear to be an efficacious procedure to confirm the diagnosis of Lyme disease. However, the demonstration of spirochetemia in patients with erythema migrans without any extracutaneous evidence of disseminated illness does have therapeutic significance.