Histologic demonstration of intradermal spirochetes in a patient with Lyme disease.
Spirochetal organisms were demonstrated histologically in skin biopsy specimens from a patient with Lyme disease and erythema chronicum migrans. The patient responded rapidly to penicillin G benzathine administration. Convalescent serum contained a high titer of antibody to an lxodes dammini spirochete antigen. The finding of spirochetes in an erythema chronicum migrans lesion in a patient with clinical Lyme disease supports further recent evidence that this illness is an infectious disease caused by a tick-borne bacterium. The skin biopsy may be a useful diagnostic tool in this disease.
D000328:Adult; D001170:Arthritis, Infectious / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012867:Skin / Q000382:microbiology; D012874:Skin Diseases, Infectious / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D013144:Spirochaetales / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013145:Spirochaetales Infections / Q000382:microbiology*