EVALUATION OF THE POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION FOR THE DETECTION OF BORRELIA-BURGDORFERI IN CEREBROSPINAL-FLUID OF CHILDREN WITH ACUTE PERIPHERAL FACIAL PALSY

Neuroborreliosis occasionally represents a diagnostic problem, especia lly in the early stage of the infection. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) offers an attractive alternative to antibody testing. The aim o f our study was to investigate the diagnostic potential of PCR in comp arison to antibody tests in CSF of children with facial palsy. In cont rast to other manifestations of neuroborreliosis, facial palsy is a we ll-defined clinical entity in which CSF findings allow an early distin ction according to aetiology. The study included 17 children with neur oborreliosis, defined by the detection of specific IgM antibodies in C SF, and 20 children with facial palsy of unknown cause. Primers used f or the nested PCR were generated from conserved sequences of the OspA- gene. Most of the cases in both subgroups have been examined within a few days after the onset of the paresis. Only in 2, out of 17 cases wi th neuroborreliosis could specific DNA be amplified, The PCR gave nega tive results in all cases of the control group. Conclusion The IgM cap ture ELISA is superior to PCR to support the clinical diagnosis of neu roborreliosis.