LYME BORRELIOSIS - LABORATORY CONSIDERATIONS

The laboratory is frequently the primary source for making the diagnos is of Lyme borreliosis when the symptoms are vague and the clinical ha llmarks are missing. However, the temptation to interpret the laborato ry results out of context from the clinical history and presentation s hould be avoided since the laboratory tests for evidence of B. burgdor feri infection can also be problematic. These problems have included s ensitivity/specificity problems, lack of standardization of both metho dology and interpretation, and lack of routine direct evidence (ie cul ture) testing. These problems are discussed as well as possible soluti ons, It should be noted that meaningful results can usually be obtaine d from these tests if caution is used in their interpretation and the clinical symptomatology, history, and examination are integrated with the laboratory results.