A case of HTLV-I associated myelopathy(HAM) in Korea.
We report the first Korean case of HTLV-I associated myelopathy (HAM), which was confirmed by Western blot assay of serum and cerebrospinal fluid. Interestingly, the proband's wife was a Japanese Korean who had lived in the endemic area of HAM, Kyushu. Japan, Investigations revealed significantly elevated anti HTLV-I antibody titers in the serum, but not in the CSF, suggesting that she was a carrier of HTLV-I. Considering that the patient had not had a previous blood transfusion, the most common route of HTLV-I, it is likely that the patient was infected by his wife through sexual intercourse. Although previous reports suggest that the transmission of HTLV-I is essentially from man to man or man to woman, our case suggests that woman to man transmission also occurs.
Park
J H
JH
Department of Neurology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Lee
B I
BI
Chun
S I
SI
Osame
M
M
D000328:Adult; D015153:Blotting, Western; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015493:Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology
D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies