Trial reportMolecular pathology : MP1997
A two year prospective study to compare culture and polymerase chain reaction amplification for the detection and diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis.
Trial report in Molecular pathology : MP, 1997. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed.
- Histological staining of tick bite skin biopsies for spirochetes and Powassan virus RNA.Microbiology spectrum · 2025Article
- Acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans: clinical and microbiological characteristics of a cohort of 693 Slovenian patients.Journal of internal medicine · 2021Article
- Laboratory Diagnosis of Lyme Borreliosis.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2021Review
- Comparison of MKP and BSK-H media for the cultivation and isolation of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato.PloS one · 2017Article
- Laboratory diagnosis of Lyme disease: advances and challenges.Infectious disease clinics of North America · 2015Review
- Update on persistent symptoms associated with Lyme disease.Current opinion in pediatrics · 2015Review
- Molecular techniques for detecting and typing of bacteria, advantages and application to foodborne pathogens isolated from ducks.3 Biotech · 2013Article
- Article
- Diagnosis of lyme borreliosis.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2005Review
- Comparison of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato strains isolated from specimens obtained simultaneously from two different sites of infection in individual patients.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2005Article
- Variations in Barbour-Stoenner-Kelly culture medium modulate infectivity and pathogenicity of Borrelia burgdorferi clinical isolates.Infection and immunity · 2004Article
- Lyme disease: an update.Current allergy and asthma reports · 2001Review
- Evaluation of a new culture medium for Borrelia burgdorferi.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2000Article
- PCR-Based quantification of Borrelia burgdorferi organisms in canine tissues over a 500-Day postinfection period.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2000Article
- Diagnostic value of PCR for detection of Borrelia burgdorferi DNA in clinical specimens from patients with erythema migrans and Lyme neuroborreliosis.Molecular diagnosis : a journal devoted to the understanding of human disease through the clinical application of molecular biology · 2000Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
aimTo compare polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of borrelial DNA and culture isolation of spirochaetes for the diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis by direct detection of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in patients with erythema migrans and acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans lesions.
methodsSkin biopsy specimens from erythema migrans and acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans lesions were subdivided and tested by PCR amplification assay and culture using two artificial growth media, Barbour-Stoenner-Kelly II (BSK II) and modified Kelly-Pettenkofer (MKP). Five classes of lesions were studied: typical erythema migrans, spontaneously resolved erythema migrans, atypical/partially treated erythema migrans, typical acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans, and atypical/partially treated acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans.
resultsFor both erythema migrans and acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans lesions, the most sensitive detection method was MKP culture. PCR was less sensitive than MKP culture, but more sensitive than BSK II culture. Results for 758 typical erythema migrans specimens showed positivity rates of 36% for MKP, 25% for PCR, and 24% for BSK II. Differences were statistically significant. The overall positivity rate for all three methods combined was 54%, but few specimens (6%) were positive by all three methods. Examination of multiple erythema migrans lesions from the same patient increased the diagnostic yield. These findings, and similar results for acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans lesions, suggest that the distribution of spirochaetes in skin biopsies is not homogeneous.
conclusionsAlthough possessing the potential to provide a rapid diagnosis, PCR is not more sensitive than culture for the direct detection of borrelia. Spirochaetes appear to be unevenly distributed throughout biopsy specimens, suggesting that diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis by direct detection of the causative agent in skin lesions in vulnerable to sample bias.
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