Pigmentary retinal degeneration in patients with HTLV-I-associated myelopathy.

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1990. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Pigmentary retinal degeneration in patients with HTLV-I-associated myelopathy.

Jpn J Ophthalmol. 1989;33(4):383-91. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/90172646
Nakao K; Ohba N; Isashiki M; Isashiki Y; Unoki K; Osame M; Department of Ophthalmology, Kagoshima University Faculty of; Medicine, Japan.

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: Aged Case Report Choroid/PATHOLOGY Female Fluorescein Angiography Fundus Oculi Human HTLV-I Antibodies/BLOOD Japan/EPIDEMIOLOGY Male Middle Age Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic/*COMPLICATIONS/EPIDEMIOLOGY/ PATHOLOGY Retina/PATHOLOGY Retinitis Pigmentosa/*COMPLICATIONS/EPIDEMIOLOGY/PATHOLOGY Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Visual Acuity JOURNAL ARTICLE
900630
M9060607

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