Pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials in patients with human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 uveitis.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possible injury in the optic pathway by measuring P100 peak latency of pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials (PVEPs) in patients with human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 uveitis (HU).

METHODS: The P100 peak latency of PVEP was measured during the period without macular abnormalities observed by fluorescein angiography in 23 patients (46 eyes) with HU and 24 patients (48 eyes) with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease (VKH) with a corrected visual acuity of 20/25 or more. To determine the normal upper limit of P100 peak latency, PVEPs were measured in 31 normal subjects (31 eyes). In addition, in the HU patients, the serum anti-HTLV-1 antibody titer was measured by particle agglutination assay within 3 months of PVEP recording, and the period of HU was retrospectively surveyed.

RESULTS: Delayed latency was observed in 4 (7 eyes) of the 23 patients (46 eyes) with HU but none of the 24 patients (48 eyes) with VKH. All four patients with delayed latency showed a serum anti-HTLV-1 antibody titer of more than x4000. The HU period in the HU patients was 0.2-14.0 years, and the HU periods in the four patients with delayed latency were 0.8, 2.7, 4.2, and 14.0 years, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: We measured pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials and observed delayed P100 peak latency in 7 of the 46 eyes in 4 (17.4%) of the 23 HU patients. This suggests injury in the optic pathway including the optic nerve by HTLV-1 in some patients with HU. In the future, consideration should also be given to the possible development of optic neuropathy due to HTLV-1.