[Familial form of tropical spastic paraparesis. Report of 4 families].
We report eight patients with familial tropical spastic paraparesis belonging to four families. The diagnosis was reached by clinical, radiological and electrophysiological studies. Human lymphotropic virus type I infection was confirmed by ELISA, immunofluorescence essays. Western blot and polymerase chain reaction in DNA of peripheral blood mononuclear cells, using primers for tax and 5'ltr genes. In all these families there was a vertical transmission of the disease from the first to the second generation. All patients improved their spastic gait after prednisone treatment. Among patients of the second generation, all had dacrysialoadenitis, three had leukemia like lymphocytes in the blood smear, two had mycosis fungoides and one had hepatic cirrhosis.
Departamento de Ciencias Neurológicas Oriente, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Hospital del Salvador, Santiago, Chile.
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L
Cartier
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E
Ramírez
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H
Galeno
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000276:immunology; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015493:Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology
D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies