[Not Available].

Objective: In the diagnosis of HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (HAM), while magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is essential to exclude other diseases, its power is limited regarding HAM diagnosis, as only 30% of affected patients present with spinal cord atrophy. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) may enable the detection of damage in the white matter microstructure. Here, we quantitatively assess spinal cord damage using DTI and evaluate conventional MRI parameters of the spinal cord in HTLV-1-infected individuals.

Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1 Is Increased in Chagasic Cardiomyopathy.

Chagas disease (CD) mainly conveys stroke risk through structural cardiac disease. However, stroke and cognitive impairment are seen in CD independently of cardiac disease severity. Chronic inflammation may be an explanation for this association, because inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of acute ischemic stroke and dementia.