HAM neuroimaging
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Human T Lymphotropic Virus Type-1-associated myelopathy: Correlation of neuroimaging with clinical outcome
IRAS ID
184075
Contact name
Graham P Taylor
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 30 days
Research summary
HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (abbreviated to HAM) is an inflammation of the spinal cord caused by a virus called the human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1). The infection is life long and the disease is chronic, causing decades of disability. More than half of the patients with this disease become totally wheel-chair dependent within 20 years. Progression is however frequently very slow which makes management difficult as it can be hard to determine at any single clinic visit whether the disease is active. This also makes treatment difficult as it can be hard to detect change in the rate of progression over short periods. These difficulties mean that initiating or changing treatment can be delayed or it can be difficult to know how well the treatment is working.
In a pilot study we have shown in three patients with more severe HAM that we can detect evidence of inflammation in the brain by a technique known as positron emission tomography (PET). PET uses radio-active labels to bind to proteins of interest on the surface of cells, in this case inflammatory cells in the brain. We did not detect inflammation in the brains of patients with mild stable disease nor in patients with HTLV-1 infection but no evidence of HAM.
In this new study we plan to extend our investigation to: a) a larger number of patients (sixteen); b) image the spinal cord as well as the brain and c) repeat the scan in patients receiving standard therapies, to look for changes in the level of inflammation. We will compare the PET imaging findings with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), physical examination and laboratory investigations of blood and cerebrospinal fluid (the liquid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord).REC name
South Central - Berkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/SC/0732
Date of REC Opinion
24 Dec 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion