Table 1 Characteristics of the four study groups
Group 1 Definite LNB n = 49 | Group 2 Possible LNB pleocytosis n = 14 | Group 3 Possible LNB Ab+ n = 14 | Group 4 Non-LNB patients n = 88 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Borrelia-specific AI or Borrelia-specific antibodies in CSF | + | – | + | – | |
CSF pleocytosis | + | + | – | – | |
Borrelia-specific IgG/IgM antibodies detected in serum, n (%) | 43 (88) | 11 (79) | 8 (57) | 0 (0) | |
CSF-albumin/S-albumin median (range) | 16 (3.4–69)*** | 5.8 (2.7–45)* | 5.7 (2.4–17) | 4.0 (1.5–9.5) | |
IgG-index median (range) | 0.7 (0.0–2.6)*** | 0.6 (0.4–0.8)*** | 0.5 (0.4–0.6) | 0.5 (0.0–0.6) | |
Men n (%) | 29 (59) | 9 (64) | 8 (57) | 39 (44) | |
Women n (%) | 20 (41) | 5 (36) | 6 (43) | 49 (56) | |
Median age years (range) | 32 (4–72) | 8.5 (3–39)** | 62 (32–82)* | 23 (1–83) | |
Median duration symptoms before LP weeks (range) | 2.0 (0.1–104) | 0.5 (0.1–3.0)* | 2.0 (0.1–156) | 4.0 (0.1–520) | |
Head/neck pain n (%) | 32 (65) | 6 (43) | 8 (57) | 27 (31) | |
Cranial nerve palsy n (%) | 22 (45) | 9 (64) | 0 (0) | 20 (23) | |
Radiculitis n (%) | 20 (41) | 2 (14) | 1 (7) | 0 (0) | |
Patients with duration of symptoms after treatment under 3 months n (%) | 40 (87)a | 8 (57) | 6 (67)b | – | |