Development of HTLV-I-associated myelopathy after blood transfusion in a patient with aplastic anemia and a recipient of a renal transplant.
We report the development of rapid progressive HTLV-I-associated myelopathy (HAM) after blood transfusion in two immunosuppressed patients, one of whom had aplastic anemia and the other was the recipient of a renal transplant receiving immunosuppressive chemotherapy. Spastic paraparesis developed 11 or 16 months after transfusion and rapidly progressed to a wheelchair-bound state. The present 2 cases suggest that the coexistent immunosuppression may play an important role in the rapid development of HAM in transfusion-acquired cases.
Kuroda
Y
Y
Department of Internal Medicine, Saga Medical School, Japan.
Takashima
H
H
Yukitake
M
M
Sakemi
T
T
D000328:Adult; D000741:Anemia, Aplastic / Q000150:complications*; D001803:Blood Transfusion; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000502:physiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015493:Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic / Q000473:pathology*; D010264:Paraplegia / Q000209:etiology