Detection of Borrelia burgdorferi DNA by Polymerase Chain Reaction in Synovial Fluid from Patients with Lyme Arthritis

Lyme disease is caused by the tick-borne spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi 1 . Weeks to months after the onset of disease, approximately 60 percent of untreated patients begin to have brief, intermittent attacks of arthritis that may recur for several years 2 . A small percentage of these patients have continuous arthritis for one year or longer, a condition we have termed “chronic Lyme arthritis” 2 , 3 . Eventually, both intermittent and chronic Lyme arthritis resolve, even in untreated patients 2 , 4 . Lyme arthritis can usually be treated successfully with either a one-month course of doxycycline or amoxicillin or a two-week course of intravenous . . .