All Posts Tagged With: "Cell count"

Pediatric Lyme Arthritis – more common than previously believed

Excerpt:

March 15, 2010 (New Orleans, Louisiana) — Almost half of children with fluid in the knee in the Northeastern United States are likely to have Lyme arthritis, according to a new study presented here at the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons 2010 Annual Meeting.

“In a pediatric population, Lyme arthritis is probably the first diagnosis to consider if you are in an endemic area,” Matthew D. Milewski, MD, from Yale–New Haven Children’s Hospital in Connecticut, told meeting attendees.

Connecticut has the highest rate of Lyme disease, but other areas of the United States are considered endemic, including the northeast from Maine to the mid-Atlantic states, Minnesota, Wisconsin and other Midwestern states, and Northern California.

Lyme arthritis is on the rise, increasing almost 100% in the past 15 years, according to data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.

Children are nearly twice as likely to develop arthritis with Lyme disease than adults, and also to have it as the initial manifestation. Distinguishing children who have Lyme arthritis from those who have septic arthritis can be a challenge in the emergency department (ED), but doing so is essential because their treatment is so different, Dr. Milewski said.

Low White Blood Cell Count Distinguishes Lyme Arthritis

Excerpt:

November 13, 2009 (Washington, DC) — The odds that a child living in a Lyme-endemic area of the United States who presents with a joint effusion will be diagnosed as having Lyme arthritis is 29%. The odds are even higher (44%) if the affected joint is the knee. The leukocyte count is useful in distinguishing between septic and Lyme arthritis, researchers announced here.

“There was an increase in the number of cases in the United States by 101% over the past 15 years, possibly due to increased recognition of Lyme disease,” said Aristides I. Cruz Jr., MD, resident in the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. During his presentation, he noted that 93% of all Lyme disease cases arise from 10 states, most in the Northeast United States.

Low White Blood Cell Count Distinguishes Lyme Arthritis From Septic Arthritis

November 13, 2009 (Washington, DC) – The odds that a child living in a Lyme-endemic area of the United States who presents with a joint effusion will be diagnosed as having Lyme arthritis is 29%. The odds are even higher (44%) if the affected joint is the knee. The leukocyte count is useful in distinguishing between septic and Lyme arthritis, researchers announced here.

“There was an increase in the number of cases in the United States by 101% over the past 15 years, possibly due to increased recognition of Lyme disease,” said Aristides I. Cruz Jr., MD, resident in the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. During his presentation, he noted that 93% of all Lyme disease cases arise from 10 states, most in the Northeast United States. Continued