Feline spinal cord diseases.

The objective of this article is to review the recent literature that reports on the most common diseases affecting the spinal cord of cats, and to draw some general conclusions that will be useful to formulate diagnosis and prognosis for feline spinal patients. The most common types of feline spinal cord diseases documented were inflammatory/infectious diseases, and feline infectious peritonitis was the most common disease, representing approximately 50% of all feline myelitis. Neoplasms were documented in approximately 25% of cases; lymphosarcoma was the most common tumor affecting the spinal cord of cats, with reported prevalence between 28% and 40%. Cats diagnosed with spinal lymphosarcoma were significantly younger (median age 4 years) than cats with other spinal cord tumors (median age 10 years). Cats with clinical signs of intervertebral disc disease had a median age of 8 years, and 67% had Hansen type I disc protrusions. The most commonly affected intervertebral disc was at the L4 to L5 intervertebral disc space. Fibrocartilaginous embolism-affected older cats (median age 10 years), seemed to predominate in the cervicothoracic intumescence, and clinical signs were markedly lateralized, especially when the cervical region was affected.

Presence of tropical spastic paraparesis/human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1-associated myelopathy (TSP/HAM)-like among HIV-1-infected patients.

UNLABELLED: Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and human T-cell lymphotropic virus types 1 and 2 (HTLV-1 and -2) are retroviruses that share similar routes of transmission and some individuals may have a dual infection. These co-infected subjects may be at increased risk for tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (TSP/HAM)-like. To study the prevalence of tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (TSP/HAM) among co-infected HIV-1/HTLV-1 subjects. Since July 1997, our group has been following a cohort to study the interaction of HTLV with HIV and/or hepatitis C virus (HCV), as well as HTLV-1-only infected asymptomatic carriers or those already presenting with TSP/HAM. During these 9 years, 296 HTLV-1-infected individuals were identified from a total of 538 patients who were referred to our clinic at the Institute of Infectious Diseases "Emílio Ribas," in São Paulo, Brazil. All subjects were evaluated by two neurologists, blinded to the HTLV status. TSP/HAM diagnosis was based on Kagoshima diagnostic criteria. RESULTS: A total of 38 HIV-1/HTLV-1 co-infected subjects were identified in this cohort: Twenty-six had already been diagnosed with AIDS and 12 remained asymptomatic. Six of 38 co-infected subjects (18%) were diagnosed as having TSP/HAM and also AIDS, and for 5 of them TSP/HAM was their first illness. One additional incident case was diagnosed after 2 years of follow-up. No modifications on HIV-1 viral load was seen. In contrast, the co-infected with TSP/HAM-like group showed higher HTLV-1 proviral load (505 +/- 380 vs. 97 +/- 149 copies/10(4) PBMC, P = 0.012) than asymptomatic co-infected subjects, respectively. The incidence of myelopathy among HIV-1/HTLV-1 co-infected subjects is probably higher than among patients infected only with HTLV-1, and related to a higher HTLV-1 proviral load. Thus, HTLV-1/2 screening should be done for all HIV-1-infected patients in areas where HTLV-1 infection is endemic.