Appropriateness of Lyme Disease Serologic Testing

Appropriateness of Lyme disease serologic testing.

BACKGROUND Although rapid diagnosis of Lyme disease is essential for effective treatment, there is concern about inappropriate testing. We conducted a prospective, cross-sectional survey of clinicians to assess the use and appropriateness of Lyme disease serologic tests (LDSTs). METHODS LDSTs performed at 2 large Wisconsin reference laboratories were systematically sampled for 12 consecutive ...

Serologic Testing in Lyme Disease

Topic Overview: How should a clinician employ serologic tests in a Lyme disease evaluation? Before ordering an ELISA or Western blot the clinician should develop a clinical impression of the patient, taking into account the exposure history, symptoms and exam findings. If Lyme disease is judged to be a diagnostic possibility then testing is reasonable. Neither ELISA nor Western blot testing is ...

Effects of OspA vaccination on Lyme disease serologic testing.

This study presents the effects of OspA vaccination on two-step testing for Borrelia burgdorferi antibodies. Although vaccinees developed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay reactivity, immunoblots did not fulfill Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for positivity. Furthermore, OspA reactivity did not interfere with interpretation of immunoblots with sera from patients who develop...

Poor Positive Predictive Value of Lyme Disease Serologic Testing in an Area of Low Disease Incidence.

BACKGROUND Lyme disease is diagnosed by 2-tiered serologic testing in patients with a compatible clinical illness, but the significance of positive test results in low-prevalence regions has not been investigated. METHODS We reviewed the medical records of patients who tested positive for Lyme disease with standardized 2-tiered serologic testing between 2005 and 2010 at a single hospital syst...

Lyme disease: How reliable are serologic results?