Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy 30 Years Later

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Abstract
AN article in this issue reports findings that provide new insight into the pathogenesis of the rare neurologic disease with the rather ponderous name progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (more conveniently, PML).1 This disease, characterized by multiple progressively evolving demyelinative lesions in the brain, is now recognized as a form of opportunistic viral infection resulting from impaired cell-mediated immune responses. When first recognized, it was seen mainly as an occasional late complication in various chronic diseases associated with immunologic hyporeactivity, such as leukemias, lymphomas, sarcoidosis, and carcinomatosis.2 , 3 With the increasing therapeutic use of immunosuppressive agents in the treatment of autoimmune diseases and . . .