title: Central pontine myelinolysis accompanied by multifocal pseudocalcifications.
abstract: A 44-year-old diabetic female became unconscious one month prior to death due to acute suppurative meningitis. Although cerebrospinal fluid findings normalized with the administration of antibiotics, the status of unconsciousness did not improve and she expired. Examination of the brain revealed a small, relatively ill-defined, demyelinated lesion in the central part of the anterior pons, with which hypertrophied astrocytes, lymphocytes, macrophages phagocytizing disintegrated myelin were present. Neuronal perikarya and axons were well preserved. The findings are pathognomonic of central pontine myelinolysis. Moreover, multifocal, granular and rosary-shaped or nodular pseudocalcifications were noted within the lesion as an unusual additional finding. Only a few comparable cases of central pontine myelinolysis accompanied by pseudocalcification have been reported.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D003711:Demyelinating Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D048909:Diabetes Complications; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011149:Pons / Q000473:pathology*