HTLV-I serostatus of mothers of patients with adult T-cell leukemia and HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis.

Abstract

This study confirms that infection with HTLV-I in early childhood can lead to ATL in later life, and that HAM/TSP can also result from early infection but more commonly results from infection acquired in adulthood. There are several reports of posttransfusion HAM/TSP, but ATL has not been reported following blood transfusion except in patients who were immunocompromised. Because the newborn infant is considered to be immunoincompetent, it seems that this is a necessary factor for the development of ATL after infection.