title: Neuropathology of two Brazilian autopsied cases of tropical spastic paraparesis / HTLV-I associated myelopathy (TSP/HAM) of long evolution.
abstract: We report on a neuropathological analysis of two cases of TSP/HAM originating from Brazil. These two cases had, respectively, an evolution of 13 and 40 years. The main neuropathological findings consisted of spinal cord atrophy, mainly the lower thoracic cord, diffuse degeneration of the white and grey matter, rare foci of mononuclear and perivascular cuffs, and hyaline hardening of arteriolae. The supraspinal structures were normal, excepting for a slight gliosis in the cerebellum. An analysis on the long evolutive cases as described in the literature is outlined in this study.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Experimental Neurology, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. pst016@sec.secrel.com.br
authors.forename: Carlos Maurício de
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Castro-Costa
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dom
authors.forename: Herwig
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Carton
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Goubau
authors.forename: Terezinha de Jesus Teixeira
authors.initials: Tde J
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Márcia Valéria Pitombeira
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Francisco Ursino da
authors.initials: FU
authors.lastname: Silva Neto
mesh_terms: D001344:Autopsy; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000473:pathology; D015493:Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic / Q000473:pathology*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology