HUMAN T-LYMPHOTROPIC VIRUS TYPE-I ASSOCIATED MYELOPATHY TREATED EFFECTIVELY WITH LYMPHOCYTAPHERESIS USING A LEUKOCYTE REMOVAL FILTER

The patient, a 61-year-old woman, received a blood transfusion at the age of 33 years. Weakness of the lower extremities developed at the ag e of 42 and the diagnosis of human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I ) associated myelopathy was made. Somatosensory evoked potential exami nation showed that the latency of P27 evoked by peroneal nerve stimula tion was 44 msec, Lymphocytapheresis was performed 3 times with one-we ek intervals using a leukocyte removal filter, The muscle weakness beg an to improve on the second day after the second lymphocytapheresis an d the sensory impairment began to improve on the third day after the t hird lymphocytapheresis. The delayed latency of P27 improved after the lymphocytapheresis, The effectiveness of lymphocytapheresis in this c ase suggests that lymphocytes are involved in the pathogenesis of HTLV -I associated myelopathy.