title: Central pontine myelinolysis and medullary myelinolysis.
abstract: Central pontine myelinolysis (CPM) is a rare, acute, and uniformly fatal demyelinative process that involves the pons almost exclusively. Three cases diagnosed at autopsy illustrate the characteristic clinical course and pathologic features of CPM. A unique extrapontine location of a similar process is noted in the medulla of a 6-year-old girl. The term "medullary myelinolysis" is a descriptive designation for demyelination that occurs predominantly in this area. The clinical and pathologic features of CPM are reviewed in detail, together with a brief review of theories of metabolic, nutritional, vascular, and endogenous and exogenous toxic factors that act either singly or in concert in the cause and pathogenesis of CPM.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003300:Copper / Q000172:deficiency; D003337:Corpus Callosum; D003677:Deficiency Diseases / Q000150:complications; D003711:Demyelinating Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008526:Medulla Oblongata / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000002:abnormalities; D011149:Pons / Q000473:pathology*; D011604:Psychoses, Alcoholic / Q000150:complications
chemical_list: D003300:Copper