Department of Pediatrics, Sørlandet Hospital Arendal, Postbox 416, 4604, Kristiansand, Norway; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Department of Radiology, Sørlandet Hospital, Arendal, Norway; Division of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2021 May;12(3):101678. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2021.101678. Epub 2021 Jan 25.
Long-term cognitive problems and fatigue after adequately treated neuroborreliosis has caused uncertainty and debate among patients and health care workers for years. Despite several studies, the prevalence, cause and severity of such complaints are still not clarified. More knowledge about cognitive function, fatigue and MRI findings in the acute phase of neuroborreliosis could possibly contribute to clarification. In the current study, we therefore aimed to address this. Patients with well-characterized acute neuroborreliosis (n = 72) and a matched control group (n = 68) were screened with eight subtests from three different neuropsychological test batteries assessing attention, working memory and processing speed, and with Fatigue Severity Scale. Fazekas score was used to grade white matter hyperintensities on MRI. We found no differences in mean scores on the neuropsychological tests between the groups. The patient group reported significantly higher level of fatigue (Fatigue Severity Scale: 4.8 vs. 2.9, p < .001). There was no significant difference in Fazekas score between the groups. Neuroborreliosis does not seem to affect cognitive functions in the acute state of the disease, while fatigue is common.
神经莱姆病经过充分治疗后出现长期认知问题和疲劳，这一现象给患者和医护人员带来了多年的困惑和争议。尽管已有多项研究，但此类主诉的流行程度、病因和严重程度仍未阐明。更多关于神经莱姆病急性期认知功能、疲劳和 MRI 结果的知识可能有助于阐明这一问题。在目前的研究中，我们旨在解决这一问题。我们对特征明确的急性神经莱姆病患者（n=72）和匹配的对照组（n=68）进行了筛查，使用三种不同的神经心理测试组合的 8 个分测验评估注意力、工作记忆和处理速度，以及疲劳严重程度量表。Fazekas 评分用于对 MRI 上的脑白质高信号进行分级。我们发现两组之间的神经心理学测试平均分数没有差异。患者组报告的疲劳程度明显更高（疲劳严重程度量表：4.8 比 2.9，p<.001）。两组之间的 Fazekas 评分没有显著差异。神经莱姆病似乎不会影响疾病急性期的认知功能，而疲劳是常见的。
