HTLV-I II AS A COMMON ETIOLOGY OF MYELOPATHIES IN BAHIA, BRAZIL/

Infection by human T-cell lymphotrophic virus type I (HTLV-I) is assoc iated with a myelopathy known as tropical spastic paraparesis (TSP). T he prevalence of HTLV-I infection was found to be high in a pilot stud y in Bahia, Brazil. In the present study, among patients with myelopat hy of unclear etiology, 27% (17/62) were immunoblot reactive to HTLV-I /II (serum and CSF), but none of 40 consecutive patients seen at the n eurological clinic and having a well-established neurological diagnosi s had detectable antibodies against those viruses (discrimination betw een HTLV-I and HTLV-II was not possible with the tests we used), The c linical syndrome of typical TSP with upper limb hyperreflexia was foun d to be a significant feature among the HTLV-I/II-seropositive patient s compared to seronegative individuals. The 17 HTLV-I/II-reactive indi viduals had negative tests for syphilis, toxoplasmosis and schistosomi asis. TSP was also associated with female gender (P = 0.001). We concl ude that TSP is strongly associated with HTLV-I/II infection in women in Bahia.