HTLV-III and Vacuolar Myelopathy

To the Editor: The isolation of the retrovirus human T-cell lymphotropic virus Type III (HTLV-III) from brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerve, and cerebrospinal fluid, as reported by Ho et al. (Dec. 12 issue),¹ provides substantial support for the theory that this virus is neurotropic as well as lymphotropic. The authors report the isolation of HTLV-III from the lumbar spinal cord of a patient (their Patient 10) who had pathologically verified vacuolar myelopathy,² and they conclude that the vacuolar myelopathy may have been a direct result of HTLV-III infection. Our own observations suggest an alternative explanation for these findings. Figure 1 shows inflammation….