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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Radiol Imaging 2015; 25(02): 177-183
DOI: 10.4103/0971-3026.155870
Neuroradiology

Osmotic myelinolysis: Does extrapontine myelinolysis precede central pontine myelinolysis? Report of two cases and review of literature

Sabale Avinash Babanrao
Department of Imageology, Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum, Kerala, India
,
Anil Prahladan
Department of Imageology, Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum, Kerala, India
,
Kalirajan Kalidos
Department of Imageology, Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum, Kerala, India
,
Krishnankutty Ramachandran
Department of Imageology, Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum, Kerala, India
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Abstract

Osmotic myelinolysis is an acute, rare, demyelinating process. After the initial description of the condition by Adam and colleagues in 1959, many case series have been published describing the central and extrapontine myelinolysis. Imaging has a definitive role in establishing the diagnosis of osmotic myelinolysis in vivo and diffusion-weighted imaging reveals earliest changes in affected brain parenchyma. We report two cases of patients with proven malignancy who developed extrapontine myelinolysis after treatment for hyponatremia and progressed to central pontine myelinolysis within a week. This was confirmed with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and clinical assessment. This temporal progression of MR features, especially on diffusion-weighted imaging, from extrapontine to central pontine myelinolysis in osmotic injury has not been described in literature to the best of our knowledge. An early MRI of the brain in suspected/high-risk cases of osmotic myelinolysis may show features of extrapontine myelinolysis in the form of restricted diffusion in bilateral basal ganglia and may serve as a guide for predicting progression, prognosticating and deciding further treatment of pontine myelinolysis. We propose that in a significant number of cases, central pontine myelinolysis may be predicted by doing an early MRI of the brain with diffusion-weighted imaging, when extrapontine symptoms start to develop. This can potentially increase the window period and possibilities for therapeutic intervention and may even help in prevention.

Keywords

Central pontine myelinolysis - diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging - extrapontine myelinolysis - osmotic myelinolysis


Publication History

Article published online:
30 July 2021

© 2015. Indian Radiological Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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