Case Report: An Isolated Abducens Palsy Secondary to Lyme Disease. 2022

Callie J Mashburn, and Alicia M Greene, and Scott A DePoe

Lyme disease can have widespread and long-lasting systemic implications, and ocular manifestations of Lyme disease may be the only presenting symptoms of infection. As such, eye care providers can play a critical role in facilitating the diagnosis and treatment of this disease. This case report describes an isolated sixth nerve palsy secondary to Lyme disease, which is a rare neuro-ophthalmic presentation. This report emphasizes the importance of considering Lyme disease in the setting of atypical nerve palsies to allow for appropriate treatment and prevent long-term complications of untreated disease. A 63-year-old man presented with new-onset, painful diplopia for 1 day and was diagnosed with a right sixth nerve palsy. His medical history was significant for relapsing polychondritis with associated ocular complications, so his nerve palsy was presumed secondary to a flare of his systemic disease. However, secondary to complaints of new night sweats, infectious etiologies were also considered. The patient was initially treated with oral steroids with no improvement in his diplopia after being admitted to the hospital for further workup. Approximately 1 week after presentation, Lyme titers returned positive, and the diagnosis was revised to abducens palsy secondary to Lyme disease. The patient's nerve palsy rapidly resolved after oral therapy with doxycycline. Lyme disease is a systemic illness that can have widely varying manifestations, including ocular findings. Eye involvement may be the only presenting symptom, allowing eye care providers to serve an important role in disease recognition and management.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008193 Lyme Disease An infectious disease caused by a spirochete, BORRELIA BURGDORFERI, which is transmitted chiefly by Ixodes dammini (see IXODES) and pacificus ticks in the United States and Ixodes ricinis (see IXODES) in Europe. It is a disease with early and late cutaneous manifestations plus involvement of the nervous system, heart, eye, and joints in variable combinations. The disease was formerly known as Lyme arthritis and first discovered at Old Lyme, Connecticut. Lyme Borreliosis,B. burgdorferi Infection,Borrelia burgdorferi Infection,Lyme Arthritis,Arthritis, Lyme,B. burgdorferi Infections,Borrelia burgdorferi Infections,Borreliosis, Lyme,Disease, Lyme
D008297 Male Males
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D004172 Diplopia A visual symptom in which a single object is perceived by the visual cortex as two objects rather than one. Disorders associated with this condition include REFRACTIVE ERRORS; STRABISMUS; OCULOMOTOR NERVE DISEASES; TROCHLEAR NERVE DISEASES; ABDUCENS NERVE DISEASES; and diseases of the BRAIN STEM and OCCIPITAL LOBE. Double Vision,Polyopsia,Diplopia, Cortical,Diplopia, Horizontal,Diplopia, Intermittent,Diplopia, Monocular,Diplopia, Refractive,Diplopia, Unilateral,Diplopia, Vertical,Cortical Diplopia,Cortical Diplopias,Diplopias,Diplopias, Cortical,Diplopias, Horizontal,Diplopias, Intermittent,Diplopias, Monocular,Diplopias, Refractive,Diplopias, Unilateral,Diplopias, Vertical,Horizontal Diplopia,Horizontal Diplopias,Intermittent Diplopia,Intermittent Diplopias,Monocular Diplopia,Monocular Diplopias,Polyopsias,Refractive Diplopia,Refractive Diplopias,Unilateral Diplopia,Unilateral Diplopias,Vertical Diplopia,Vertical Diplopias,Vision, Double
D005123 Eye The organ of sight constituting a pair of globular organs made up of a three-layered roughly spherical structure specialized for receiving and responding to light. Eyes
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D020434 Abducens Nerve Diseases Diseases of the sixth cranial (abducens) nerve or its nucleus in the pons. The nerve may be injured along its course in the pons, intracranially as it travels along the base of the brain, in the cavernous sinus, or at the level of superior orbital fissure or orbit. Dysfunction of the nerve causes lateral rectus muscle weakness, resulting in horizontal diplopia that is maximal when the affected eye is abducted and ESOTROPIA. Common conditions associated with nerve injury include INTRACRANIAL HYPERTENSION; CRANIOCEREBRAL TRAUMA; ISCHEMIA; and INFRATENTORIAL NEOPLASMS. Abducens Palsy, Childhood, Benign Recurrent,Cranial Nerve VI Diseases,Lateral Rectus Palsy,Sixth Cranial Nerve Disorders,6th Nerve Palsy,Abducens Nerve Palsy,Abducens Palsy,Benign Recurrent Abducens Palsy of Childhood,Benign Recurrent Abducens Palsy, Children,Cranial Nerve VI Palsy,Sixth Cranial Nerve Diseases,Sixth Cranial Nerve Palsy,Sixth Nerve Palsy,VI Nerve Palsy,VIth Cranial Nerve Diseases,6th Nerve Palsies,Abducens Nerve Disease,Abducens Nerve Palsies,Abducens Palsies,Lateral Rectus Palsies,Palsies, 6th Nerve,Palsies, Abducens,Palsies, Abducens Nerve,Palsies, Lateral Rectus,Palsies, Sixth Nerve,Palsies, VI Nerve,Palsy, 6th Nerve,Palsy, Abducens,Palsy, Abducens Nerve,Palsy, Lateral Rectus,Palsy, Sixth Nerve,Palsy, VI Nerve,Sixth Nerve Palsies

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