Lack of association between peripheral neuropathy and HTLV-I infection in west Africa. Epidemiological, serological and nerve biopsy study.
J Neurol Sci
; 119(2): 141-5, 1993 Nov.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-8277327
ABSTRACT
Patients (n = 1166) with various neurological disorders hospitalized in Dakar, Abidjan, Lomé and Ouagadougou were examined prospectively over a 42-month period. Seropositivity for HTLV-I alone was found to be 1.8%, which is comparable to that estimated for the general population in Africa. Eighteen of the patients with TSP and only 5 with PN were HTLV-I positive, but co-infections were found in 30-40% of cases. Discrete and unspecific lesions were observed on light and electron microscopic examination of peripheral nerve biopsies from 11 patients. Since spastic paraparesis emerges as the disorder containing the largest number of HTLV-I-positive individuals, it may be premature to conclude that HTLV-I is a causal agent in PN. Nevertheless, their rarity and the frequency of retroviral co-infections distinguish these cases of African HTLV-I-associated myelopathy from comparable cases observed in other parts of the world.
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Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
HTLV-I Infections
/
Peripheral Nervous System
Type of study:
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
J Neurol Sci
Year:
1993
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Francia