TROPICAL SPASTIC PARAPARESIS - REGIONAL S UBCLINICAL AND NEUROPHYSIOLOGIC DIFFERENCES IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD

Tropical spastic paraparesis is the same clinical entity ali over the world. It has been suggested that some clinical presentation differenc es are due to not well defined environmental factors that act along wi th the virus, modifying the start and progression of the disease. We a nalyzed 25 publications on the disease coming from different parts of the world, aiming to unravel regional differences. In these reports, w e found different degrees of subclinical abnormalities in visual and s omatosensory evoked potentials, nerve conduction studies, superior and inferior limb F wave and electromyography. It is concluded that genet ic, environmental and even cultural factors may influence the clinical presentation of tropical spastic paraparesis and explain the detected differences in the reports analyzed in this study.