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HTLV-I associated myelopathy in the northern region of Brazil (Belém-Pará): serological and clinical features of three cases.

Three patients (males, black, ages 37, 40 and 57) attended a university clinic with a progressive paraparesis of obscure origin. One patient who referred disease duration of more than 16 years, showed diminished deep reflexes, bilateral Babinski's sign, diminished sensation of vibration, abnormal bladder function and back pain. The other two patients (with one and six years of disease duration) complained of weakness in one leg, increased deep reflexes and back pain. Babinski's sign and bladder disturbance were also present in the patient with six years of disease. Blood samples tested by an enzyme immune assay and a discriminatory Western blot were positive for HTLV-I. The familial analysis of one patient showed a possible pattern of sexual and vertical transmission of the virus. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first cases of a proven association between HTLV-I and TSP/HAM in Belem, Para, and emphasize the need to actively look for cases of neurological disease associated to the virus.

Adult↗

[Two cases of lateral approach for thoraco-lumbar junctional lesions: experiment of Kaneda's device].

Case 1: a 32-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with major complaints of gait disturbance and urinary incontinence. The tendon reflex was markedly increased in the bilateral lower extremities, and both Babinski's reflex and clonus were strongly positive. Myelography revealed complete block in the 10th thoracic vertebral level. On April 15, 1989, a tumor in the vertebral region was exposed and excised via a right posterolateral approach. Kaneda's device was used for internal fixation. The tumor was diagnosed as myeloma histologically. The postoperative course was uneventful. Postoperatively, the patient became capable of walking by herself. Case 2: an 18-year-old woman was admitted because of burst fractures of the 1st and 2nd lumbar vertebrae due to a traffic accident in January of 1989. The fractured bones had been manually repositioned and fixed with plaster. However, the patient still had gait disturbance (intermittent claudication). Myelography revealed a complete block in the 2nd lumbar vertebral region. On May 7, the vertebral foramen was opened via a left anterolateral approach, and internal fixation was performed using Kaneda's device. Postoperatively, the patient recovered full ability to walk, and returned to normal social activity. From our experience, it is thought to be useful to employ a right posterolateral approach to the thoracic vertebrae, and a left anterolateral approach to the lumbar vertebrae. We used Kaneda's device for internal fixation, successfully. However, this device has the following disadvantages; (1) there are few plates designed for females, whose vertebrae are small, (2) it is difficult to preserve the arteries of Adamkiewicz and (3) postoperative MRI becomes impossible.

Adolescent↗

[A case of subacute combined degeneration with normal serum vitamin B12 level].

A 40-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of pancytopenia with megaloblastic anemia. Two months later she complained of rapidly progressive gait disturbance and numbness in the distal part of limbs. She also told that her hair had turned totally gray in the third decade. Neurologically, mental state, cranial nerves and cerebellar functions were normal. Superficial sensations were impaired below the lower thoracic level and deep sensations were completely lost in the lower limbs. Moderate weakness was found in the lower limbs, symmetrically. Deep tendon reflexes were diminished in the upper limbs and absent in the lower limbs. Babinski's reflex was positive bilaterally. MR images of the spinal cord showed hyperintensity in the posterior column below the thoracic cord. Although the serum level of vitamin B12 was within normal range, serum homocysteine level was elevated markedly. Under the diagnosis of subacute combined degeneration (SCD) due to possible vitamin B12 deficiency, the treatment with intravenous injections of 500 micrograms/day of mecobalamin was undertaken. Muscle strength and sensory impairment improved progressively and she became able to walk with a cane. The coloration of her gray hair was also noted. After treatment, pancytopenia and megaloblastic anemia also markedly improved. Vitamin B12 became high in serum concentration and the serum level of homocysteine became normal. These clinical and laboratory findings support the diagnosis of SCD with normal serum level of vitamin B12 in our case, suggesting that the level of vitamin B12 in serum does not always correlate with that in tissue and, therefore, SCD should not be excluded just only by the reason of normal serum vitamin B12 level.

Adult↗

[Hepatitis B virus antibody positive spastic paraparesis].

We present here thirteen patients (5 men and 8 women, aged 31 to 73, mean 55 years) with spastic paraparesis who showed clinical features similar to those of HTLV-1 associated myelopathy without HTLV-1 antibody, but with positive antibody to hepatitis B virus (HBV). All of these patients showed slowly progressive difficulty in walking. Five patients had previous histories of blood transfusion, of these one with history of B hepatitis. Neurologically, muscle weakness, spasticity and exaggerated deep tendon reflexes in the lower extremities were common to all the patients. Seven patients showed Babinski's reflex. Disturbance of micturition was noted in 3 patients. None showed organic changes of the spine on magnetic resonance image (MRI). None was serologically positive for syphilis and had cryoglobulin and hypergammaglobulinemia. Elevated levels of the liver enzymes were noted in two patients. All patients were positive for hepatitis B surface antibody (HBs-Ab) (EIA) but negative for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBs-Ag) (EIA). Five patients were seropositive for hepatitis C virus (HCV) (PHA). In 3 of them, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was performed but failed to detect HCV-RNA. All patients underwent spinal tap, and showed normal cell count and protein concentration in their cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Atypical cells were not observed in all the patients. The CSFs from three patients were tested for HBs-Ag and HBs-Ab. HBs-Ag was negative in all three patients, but HBs-Ab was positive in two patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

Babinski or Remak?

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France↗