Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with antecedent poliomyelitis
R. P. Roos, M. V. Viola, R. Wollmann, M. H. Hatch and J. P. Antel
Histopathological and virological studies were performed on autopsy tissue
from a 47-year-old man who had a history of acute poliomyelitis at age 15
years and died after a three-year course of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
(ALS). The poliovirus serologic tests suggested prior infection with
poliovirus type 3 but no ongoing poliovirus infection. The CNS showed
typical features of ALS with no inclusion bodies or inflammatory cells.
Attempts to isolate poliovirus in the CNS were unsuccessful and results of
immunofluorescence studies for poliovirus antigen were negative. Molecular
hybridization experiments using a DNA copy of the complete poliovirus
genome failed to demonstrate poliovirus-related RNA or DNA sequences in the
CNS. These studies, using sensitive techniques, indicate that there was no
evidence of the continuing presence of poliovirus in this patient with ALS
and antecedent poliomyelitis.
