Benign course of central pontine myelinolysis in a patient with anorexia nervosa

Central pontine myelinolysis is a rare neurologic disorder defined by symmetric demyelination of the central base of the pons. Until recently its outcome was considered invariably poor if not fatal. We report a 15-year-old female patient with severe anorexia nervosa who acutely developed a locked-in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pediatric neurology 2002-08, Vol.27 (2), p.132-135
Main Authors: Lilje, Christian G, Heinen, Florian, Laubenberger, Jörg, Krug, Isolde, Brandis, Matthias
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Anorexia nervosa
Anorexia Nervosa - complications
Anorexia Nervosa - psychology
Biological and medical sciences
Brain - pathology
Brain - physiopathology
Eating behavior disorders
Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem - physiology
Evoked Potentials, Motor - physiology
Evoked Potentials, Visual - physiology
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Medical sciences
Myelinolysis, Central Pontine - etiology
Myelinolysis, Central Pontine - pathology
Myelinolysis, Central Pontine - physiopathology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Severity of Illness Index
Water-Electrolyte Balance
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Summary:Central pontine myelinolysis is a rare neurologic disorder defined by symmetric demyelination of the central base of the pons. Until recently its outcome was considered invariably poor if not fatal. We report a 15-year-old female patient with severe anorexia nervosa who acutely developed a locked-in syndrome. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a central pontine lesion. There was no serum sodium abnormality. The corticospinal and corticonuclear tracts were intact, as assessed by serial neurophysiologic studies. Finally, the patient recovered completely both clinically and radiologically. This article discusses these observations in the light of recent reports on similar benign outcomes of central pontine myelinolysis. Although electrolyte imbalances could be overestimated and the clinical significance of the radiologic lesion is uncertain, the functional assessment of the corticospinal and corticonuclear fibers might have prognostic value.
ISSN:0887-8994
1873-5150
DOI:10.1016/S0887-8994(02)00411-3