Pigmentary retinal degeneration in patients with HTLV-I-associated myelopathy.
Ophthalmological evaluations were made of the records of a series of 38 patients with HTLV-I-associated myelopathy, a chronic progressive myelopathy caused by human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I). Four patients with no contributory family history showed pigmentary degenerative changes of the retina and choroid. Two of the patients (73-year-old woman, 68-year-old woman) had a progressive visual loss and night blindness with morphologic and functional features of diffuse pigmentary retinal degeneration. The other two patients (59-year-old man, 72-year-old man) complained of recently developed visual loss with sectorial or regional retinochoroidal atrophy. These elderly patients claimed that they had been healthy until a few years before presentation, not only visually but also neurologically. It was concluded, together with an epidemiologic consideration, that the coexistence of pigmentary retinal degeneration and HTLV-I-associated myelopathy is not simply chance but indicates a close association between the two conditions. It is proposed that HTLV-I infection might be a primary causative factor of degenerative changes of the retina and choroid, although the pathogenesis remains to be defined.
Nakao
K
K
Department of Ophthalmology, Kagoshima University Faculty of Medicine, Japan.
Ohba
N
N
Isashiki
M
M
Isashiki
Y
Y
Unoki
K
K
Osame
M
M
D000368:Aged; D002829:Choroid / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D005654:Fundus Oculi; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015493:Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology; D012174:Retinitis Pigmentosa / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D014792:Visual Acuity
D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies