Myelopathy signaling the late diagnosis of HTLV infection

a case report

Abstract

The human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) is characterized as a sexually transmitted disease (STD), it can also be transmitted by parenteral and vertical routes. It is subdivided into two types: the HTLV-I related diseases such as myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) and adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL). HTLV-II has not been scientifically correlated with pathology yet. This diagnosis is made by serological screening for detection of HTLV antibody, and the western blot confirmatory test. In this context, the objective of this study was to describe a case in which myelopathy was signaling to the clinical manifestation of HTLV, as a result of delayed diagnosis of infection by this pathogen in which the patient had symptoms progressed slowly and received diagnosis only in the last stage of pathology (HAM/TSP), becoming a wheelchair user. Although nowadays the patient performs the therapeutic proposed and outpatient treatment according to the established protocol for the management of this viral infection, members of her family were also diagnosed and only one had a positive diagnosis of infection. This study aims to demonstrate the importance of laboratory screening for HTLV infection, in the same dimension of the diagnosis of syphilis and HIV, so that it does not occur so late, when it is associated to clinical manifestations in patients or related opportunistic infections.