Article Text

Download PDFPDF
HTLV-1 encephalitis
  1. Josh King-Robson1,
  2. Timothy Hampton2,
  3. Carolina Rosadas3,
  4. Graham P Taylor3,
  5. Biba Stanton1
  1. 1 Neurology Department, King's College Hospital, London, UK
  2. 2 Neuroradiology Department, King's College Hospital, London, UK
  3. 3 Department of Infectious Disease, Imperial College London, London, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Josh King-Robson, Neurology Department, King's College Hospital, London SE5 9RS, UK; j.king-robson{at}nhs.net

Abstract

A 53-year-old woman developed subacute onset of upper limb weakness, sensory loss and cerebellar dysfunction. She was known to have human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1)-associated myelopathy. MR scan of the brain showed extensive T2 hyperintensity within the deep and subcortical white matter, with punctate contrast enhancement. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was lymphocytic with very high levels of HTLV-1 provirus in both CSF and peripheral blood lymphocytes. We diagnosed HTLV-1 encephalomyelitis and started high-dose methylprednisolone followed by a slow corticosteroid taper. She recovered well and regained functional independence in the upper limbs. Neurological manifestations of HTLV-1 infection extend beyond classical ‘tropical spastic paraparesis’ and are under-recognised. We review the literature on HTLV-1 encephalitis and discuss its diagnosis and management.

  • HTLV1
  • myelopathy
  • infectious diseases

Data availability statement

All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information.

Statistics from Altmetric.com

Request Permissions

If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

Data availability statement

All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information.

View Full Text

Footnotes

  • Contributors JK-R: drafting and revision of the manuscript. TH: creation and reporting of MRI images. CR: creation of HTLV-1 prevalence map and editing of the manuscript. GPT: editing and revision of the manuscript, CSF and biochemical testing. BS: editing and revision of the manuscript.

  • Funding JK-R’s research is funded by the National Institute for Health Research.

  • Map disclaimer The depiction of boundaries on this map does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of BMJ (or any member of its group) concerning the legal status of any country, territory, jurisdiction or area or of its authorities. This map is provided without any warranty of any kind, either express or implied.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Provenance and peer review Provenance and peer review. Not commissioned. Externally peer reviewed by Hadi Manji, London, UK.