PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Nakao, K AU - Matsumoto, M AU - Ohba, N TI - Seroprevalence of antibodies to HTLV-I in patients with ocular disorders. AID - 10.1136/bjo.75.2.76 DP - 1991 Feb 01 TA - British Journal of Ophthalmology PG - 76--78 VI - 75 IP - 2 4099 - http://bjo.bmj.com/content/75/2/76.short 4100 - http://bjo.bmj.com/content/75/2/76.full SO - Br J Ophthalmol1991 Feb 01; 75 AB - Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-I) has been shown to spread worldwide and to be responsible for distinct systemic diseases, namely adult T-cell leukaemia and HTLV-I-associated myelopathy. Immune-mediated, inflammatory lesions in the lungs, joints, and lacrimal glands (Sjögren's syndrome) are also suggested to be associated with the retrovirus. We studied seroprevalence of antibodies to HTLV-I in patients with various ocular disorders who are residents of south-west Japan, one of the endemic areas of HTLV-I. Of 310 patients with ocular disease 72 (23.2%) were seropositive. This seroprevalence did not differ significantly from that of the general population of the area. As regards individual ocular diseases, aetiologically undefined nonspecific uveitis showed a significantly high seropositivity for HTLV-I. Of 44 patients 18 (40.9%) were seropositive. Their clinical features were acute or subacute, transient and sometimes recurrent, and granulomatous changes in the anterior uvea. Patients with isolated cotton-wool spot of the retina, non-familial retinitis pigmentosa, or keratoconjunctivitis sicca did not show any significantly high prevalence of HTLV-I infection.