An HTLV-I carrier with Graves' disease followed by uveitis: isolation of HTLV-I from thyroid tissue.

We report a long-term (14-year) follow-up of a human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I)-infected male who was successively afflicted with Graves' disease followed by uveitis. HTLV-I proviral DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction in the thyroid tissue and HTLV-I was isolated from thyroid tissue by coculture with peripheral blood lymphocytes from an HTLV-I-uninfected healthy female. This case study supports a close relationship between Graves' disease and uveitis in an HTLV-I carrier.