For Patients with Acute Bell Palsy in Lyme Endemic Areas, Consider Lyme Disease

Bell palsy is associated with acute infection with Borrelia burgdorferi (the bacterium that causes Lyme disease), which is seasonal and treatable. To determine the seasonal variation in Bell palsy and associated Lyme disease, researchers conducted a retrospective chart review of patients diagnosed with Bell palsy at two New Jersey hospitals between 2013 and 2018. Lyme test results and their association with Bell palsy diagnoses were also assessed.

There were a total of 442 patients with Bell palsy (median age, 48 years; 42% female). Lyme testing was performed in 359 patients (81%) and was positive in 57 (16% of those tested). On a month-to-month basis, the number of Bell palsy diagnoses correlated roughly with the number of positive Lyme tes…