A FOLLOW-UP-STUDY ON SPASTIC PARAPARESIS IN JAPANESE HAM TSP/

We followed 24 patients with HTLV-I-associated myelopathy (HAM) for 4- 12 years (mean 7 years) and assessed longitudinal changes of their spa stic paraparesis by Kurtzke's Disability Status Scale (DSS). The DSS s core of spastic paraparesis was unchanged in 18 patients (75%), advanc ed (worsened) by two in 1 patient and by one in 3 patients, and declin ed (improved) by one in 2 patients during the follow-up period. The re sults demonstrated that HAM presents with a variety of clinical course s including spontaneous improvement.