Yonsei Medical Journal  1991;32(2):190-194

doi:10.3349/ymj.1991.32.2.190

A case of HTLV-I associated myelopathy(HAM) in Korea.

Jae Hyeon PARK 1 ; Byun In LEE ; Sae Il LEE ; Mitsuhiro OSAME

Affiliations

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Keywords

HTLV-1; Myelopathy; TSP

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

English

Abstract

We report the first Korean case of HTLV-I associated myelopathy (HAM), which was confirmed by Western blot assay of serum and cerebrospinal fluid. Interestingly, the proband's wife was a Japanese Korean who had lived in the endemic area of HAM, Kyushu. Japan, Investigations revealed significantly elevated anti HTLV-I antibody titers in the serum, but not in the CSF, suggesting that she was a carrier of HTLV-I. Considering that the patient had not had a previous blood transfusion, the most common route of HTLV-I, it is likely that the patient was infected by his wife through sexual intercourse. Although previous reports suggest that the transmission of HTLV-I is essentially from man to man or man to woman, our case suggests that woman to man transmission also occurs.