Analysis of factors of relevance to rapid clinical progression in HTLV-I-associated myelopathy

Juvenile Human T Lymphotropic Virus Type 1–Associated Myelopathy

“…This finding is consistent with reports made by Osame et al [27]. Conflicting evidence with regard to the rate of progression in patients who are younger at onset indicates that prospective studies of HAM/TSP are warranted, to improve understanding of the natural history of the disease [27,28].…”

HTLV-1 proviral load in peripheral blood mononuclear cells quantified in 100 HAM/TSP patients: A marker of disease progression

“…In clinical practice, progression is quite variable among patients [11,26,27] and prognostic These data confirmed that rapid progression patients have a poorer outcome than slow progression patients. In agreement with a previous report [13] we found that the level of HTLV-1 proviral load was greater in HAM/TSP patients than in asymptomatic healthy carriers.…”

“…An increasing spectrum of HTLV-1-related diseases has been reported and includes polymyositis [5], uveitis [6], interstitial keratitis [7], Sjogren's syndrome [8], alveolitis [9], and arthritis [10]. Although serum IgA and cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) IgG levels are significantly higher in rapid progression patients than in slow progression patients [11], no surrogate prognostic biomarkers are yet available in HAM/TSP. HTLV-1 proviral load in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) is higher in patients with 0022 HAM/TSP than in asymptomatic HTLV-1 carriers [12], and a high proviral load is thought to be associated with development of the disease [13].…”

Human T Cell Lymphotropic Virus Type 1-Associated Myelopathy in São Paulo, Brazil

“…The clinical course of HAM/TSP has been suggested to progress faster in posttransfusional cases [35]. This could not be demonstrated in our series.…”