[A patient with marked immunodeficiency in an HTLV-I carrier: a case report]

We report a 49-year-old man who was an HTLV-I carrier with an immunodeficiency state and intracranial pyramidal tract lesion revealed by MRI. He was born in Hokkaido and was admitted to our hospital because of fluminant hepatitis. On admission, neurologic examination revealed exaggerated deep tendon reflexes including the jaw jerk; the plantar response was flexor. Laboratory examination revealed decrease in the number of lymphocytes and CD4-positive lymphocytes in the peripheral blood and CD4/CD8 ratio was consistently low, indicating the presence of cellular immunodeficiency state. Serum anti-HTLV-I antibody was markedly increased but he did not have HTLV-I associated myelopathy (HAM). He had no underlying disease which would cause immunodeficiency state such as adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) or HIV infection. We concluded that the HTLV-I carrier state induced his immunodeficiency. During the course, he developed retrobulbar neuritis. T2 weighted cranial MRI revealed high signal lesions in the bilateral corona radiata, posterior limb of the internal capsule, and the pontine base, corresponding to the location of the pyramidal tracts. His hospital course was complicated by opportunistic infections such as Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, cytomegalovirus infections, and meningitis, and died of multiple organ failure 7 months after the admission. Cellular immunodeficiencies in ATL patients are well known. Intracranial central nervous system (CNS) lesions in HAM patients are also mentioned. Recently coincidence of ATL and HAM in the same patients has also been reported. Asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers may have a latent immunodeficiency state and/or CNS lesions. We shall have to be alert about the presence of such carriers.