Internal Medicine
Online ISSN : 1349-7235
Print ISSN : 0918-2918
ISSN-L : 0918-2918
CASE REPORTS
Extensive Central and Extrapontine Myelinolysis in a Case of Chronic Alcoholism without Hyponatremia: A Case Report with Analysis of Serial MR Findings
Koichi HagiwaraYoko OkadaNorihiko ShidaYoriaki Yamashita
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JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS

2008 Volume 47 Issue 5 Pages 431-435

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Abstract

We observed a 41-year-old woman with severe central pontine myelinolysis (CPM) and unusually extensive extrapontine myelinolysis (EPM), but without evidence of hyponatremia. Increased alcohol consumption in prior months was the main cause of her CPM/EPM. However, in general, EPM is a rare accompaniment in alcoholic patients with CPM without hyponatremia. With regard to our patient, the EPM was unusually widespread; magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of her brain showed multiple hyperintense lesions on T2-weighted images distributed symmetrically in bilateral caudate nuclei, lentiform nuclei and thalami. Serial follow-up MRI revealed almost complete resolution of EPM after methylprednisolone pulse therapy. By contrast, marked cavitary hypointensity in the pons remained, but complete remission of neurological symptoms was achieved.

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© 2008 by The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine
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