Borrelia burgdorferi and Localized Scleroderma

To the Editor.—  Aberer et al,¹ in Austria, have suggested that morphea might be related to Borrelia burgdorferi infection. These authors found antibodies to B burgdorferi in five of ten patients with morphea in one study and eight of 15 patients in another study, which used the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.²

Patients and Methods.—  We tested for antibodies to B burgdorferi in 17 patients (15 women and two men; mean age, 38.8 years) with a history of four months to 13 years of localized scleroderma. Serologic evaluation was performed by immunofluorescence with B burgdorferi strain B31, the antigen being prepared as described by Russell et al.³ All patients had negative antibody titers (< 1:256).

Results.—  Our results are in agreement with those of Muhlemann et al⁴ in the United Kingdom, Hansen et al⁵ in Denmark, and Hoesly et al⁶ in the United States. In West