41. Looking at Lyme carditis with Dr. Adrian Baranchuk

In today’s podcast Sarah explores Lyme carditis with Dr. Adrian Baranchuk, a cardiologist from Kingston, Ontario. Lyme carditis is inflammation of the heart and can cause lightheadedness, palpitations, fainting, chest pain and shortness of breath. In severe cases, it can be fatal. Dr. Baranchuk tells Sarah he has now seen 16 patients with Lyme carditis. He met his first patient when a physician in a nearby hospital requested transfer of a young 14 year old patient with something called AV block, a disruption of the electrical pathway that stimulates the heart to contract. The young patient had a life saving temporary pacemaker inserted, and the transferring physician mentioned that she had sent blood work for Lyme disease. This prompted Dr. Baranchuk to investigate something called Lyme carditis and question whether antibiotics might resolve the heart block and prevent the need for a permanent pacemaker to be inserted in this young patient. He did initiate antibiotics, and within one week, the patient had a completely normal electrical system in his heart. The temporary pacemaker was removed, and his cardiac stress test showed normal results. Read the rest of the show notes.