MRI of thoracic cord in tropical spastic paraparesis.

MRI of thoracic cord in tropical spastic paraparesis Tropical spastic paraparesis (TSP) is a disease occurring in Afro-Caribbeans following HTLV-1 retro-virus infection. There is some evidence that the geographical and ethnic distribution ofHTLV-1 illness is even wider' and HTLV-1 associated myelopathy (HAM) in Japan is probably the same disorder. Abnormalities are found on MRI of the brain in both TSP23 and HAM.4 High signal areas are found in the brain similar to those in multiple sclerosis (MS), though they tend to be less extensive. The thoracic cord (on which the brunt ofthe pathological process falls) has been examined in only three patients, one of whom had atrophy.2 Since the clinical picture ofTSP may resemble that ofprogressive MS, we have made a systematic comparison of the MRI characteristics of the thoracic cord in the two conditions.