Development of cardiovascular complications and their correlation with Lyme disease.

Cardiovascular disease is at the forefront of global health issues and contributes to myocardial infarction, stroke,and even death. Lyme disease (LD), spread by ticks of the genus Ixodes, is a contributing factor to the potentialdevelopment of abnormalities in the heart. The bacterial agents Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Chlamydia pneumoniae,and Borrelia burgdorferi are known to cause a variety of infections and we speculate that infection with Borreliais a contributing factor to cardiac abnormalities, especially Lyme carditis (LC). Patients who demonstrate undiagnosedcardiac abnormalities should be monitored for potential infection with Lyme disease and, consequentlyLC. Lyme carditis affects up to 10% of patients that have been diagnosed with LD and additionally, it indiscriminatelymanifests across a range of ages, from the pediatric populace to the elderly. Given the grave cardiac abnormalitiesthat can arise from LC and the propensity for misdiagnosis, it is critical that medical professionals beaware of the cardiovascular signs and symptoms of Atrioventricular Heart Block (AHB). AHB can lead to thirddegree heart block in patients and potentially lead to death if left not properly diagnosed and treated. Essentialtreatments are readily available for Lyme carditis, which include a range of antibiotics and surgical procedures.In this review, we highlight not only the true nature of Lyme disease, but more importantly, the positive correlationbetween LD and a variety of undiagnosed heart complications.