title: Cardiovascular risk profile in patients with myelopathy associated with HTLV-1.
abstract: HAM/TSP (HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis) is a slowly progressive disease, characterized by a chronic spastic paraparesis. It is not known if the disease carries an independent risk for cardiovascular disease. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cardiovascular risk profile related to HAM/TSP and compare it with the general population.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional study, with a control group. HAM/TSP patients were evaluated using cardiovascular risk scores (ASCVD RISK, SCORE and Framingham) and inflammatory markers (ultrasensitive CRP and IL-6), and compared with a control group of healthy individuals. We also evaluated the correlation between cardiovascular risk and the functional status of patients with HAM/TSP evaluated by the FIM scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighty percent of patients in this study were females, mean age of 51 years (11.3). The control group showed an increased cardiovascular event risk in 10 years when ASCVD was analyzed (cardiovascular risk ≥7.5% in 10 years seen in 43% of patients in the control group vs. 23% of patients with HAM/TSP; p=0.037). There was no difference in ultrasensitive CRP or IL-6 values between the groups, even when groups were stratified into low and high risk. There was no correlation between the functional status of HAM/TSP patients and the cardiovascular risk.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, the cardiovascular risk profile of patients with HAM/TSP was better than the risk of the control group.
authors.affiliation: Escola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública, Salvador, BA, Brazil; Rede Sarah de Hospitais de Reabilitação, Salvador, BA, Brazil. Electronic address: fabioluisprado@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Fabio Luís Silva do
authors.initials: FLSD
authors.lastname: Prado
authors.affiliation: Vanguard Skin Specialists, Colorado Springs, CO, United States.
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Prado
authors.affiliation: Escola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Marice Teixeira
authors.initials: AMT
authors.lastname: Ladeia
mesh_terms: D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015493:Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic / Q000150:complications*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: C reactive protein; Cardiovascular risk; HAM/TSP; HTLV-1; Interleukin-6