Besides AV block and cranial neuritis, Lyme disease may cause which other cardiac condition?

Besides AV block and cranial neuritis, Lyme disease may cause which other cardiac condition?

• A. Myocardial infarction
• B. Pericarditis
• C. Aortic dissection
• D. Endocarditis

Answer: (B)

Lyme disease can involve the heart in disseminated infection, and beyond AV block and cranial neuritis it can cause inflammation of the pericardial sac, known as pericarditis. The Borrelia bacteria can spread to cardiac tissues and trigger this inflammatory process, leading chest pain and sometimes a pericardial effusion, with potential ECG changes consistent with pericarditis. Treating the underlying Lyme infection with appropriate antibiotics usually resolves the symptoms. The other options don’t fit the typical Lyme cardiac involvement: myocardial infarction is a coronary artery event, aortic dissection is a tear in the aorta, and endocarditis targets the heart valves and is not the classic Lyme-associated cardiac condition.

Lyme disease can involve the heart in disseminated infection, and beyond AV block and cranial neuritis it can cause inflammation of the pericardial sac, known as pericarditis. The Borrelia bacteria can spread to cardiac tissues and trigger this inflammatory process, leading chest pain and sometimes a pericardial effusion, with potential ECG changes consistent with pericarditis. Treating the underlying Lyme infection with appropriate antibiotics usually resolves the symptoms. The other options don’t fit the typical Lyme cardiac involvement: myocardial infarction is a coronary artery event, aortic dissection is a tear in the aorta, and endocarditis targets the heart valves and is not the classic Lyme-associated cardiac condition.