Neuropathology of two Brazilian autopsied cases of tropical spastic paraparesis / HTLV-I associated myelopathy (TSP/HAM) of long evolution

Abstract

We report on a neuropathological analysis of two cases of TSP/HAM originating from Brazil. These two cases had, respectively, an evolution of 13 and 40 years. The main neuropathological findings consisted of spinal cord atrophy, mainly the lower thoracic cord, diffuse degeneration of the white and grey matter, rare foci of mononuclear and perivascular cuffs, and hyaline hardening of arteriolae. The supraspinal structures were normal, excepting for a slight gliosis in the cerebellum. An analysis on the long evolutive cases as described in the literature is outlined in this study.