title: Acute ataxia in a 4-year-old boy: a case of Lyme disease neuroborreliosis.
abstract: We present a case of a 4-year-old who presented to the emergency department with an unsteady gait for 2 days. Ataxia is a rare but known manifestation of cerebellar involvement in Lyme disease. A 4-year-old (17 kg) boy with no significant medical history presented to the emergency department (ED) with history of nonbloody emesis for 2 weeks and an unsteady gait for 2 days. Over the past 2 days, his gait had gotten progressively worse until he was unable to walk without assistance. The vomiting would usually occur 1 hour after eating meals. He had also complained of a single headache, which occurred approximately 10 days before admission. The headache did not occur in the early morning hours or wake him up from his sleep. His appetite for the weeks before admission had progressively decreased, and he had also become more irritable, especially when stimulated. He had increased fatigue for the week before presentation. His parents denied any fever, rhinorrhea, cough, diarrhea, rash, bruising, bleeding, or hematuria. The patient denied any abdominal pain or headache while in the ED.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, CA 30912, USA. mlopez@mcg.edu
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.forename: Cristin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wise
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002443:Ceftriaxone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002675:Child, Preschool; D020234:Gait Ataxia / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D020852:Lyme Neuroborreliosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D002443:Ceftriaxone