Central pontine myelinolysis overview
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Differentiating Central pontine myelinolysis from other Diseases |
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Central pontine myelinolysis is a neurologic disease caused by severe damage of the myelin sheath of nerve cells in the brainstem, more precisely in the area termed the pons. It is a complication of treatment of patients with profound, life threatening hyponatraemia. It occurs as a consequence of a rapid rise in serum tonicity following treatment in individuals with chronic severe hyponatraemia who have made intracellular adaptations to the prevailing hypotonicity. It can also occur as a complication of correcting hypernatremia too rapidly.
Pathophysiology
Rapid correction of hypernatremia causes water to move into cells, leading to multiple cerebral hemorrhages, equally catastrophic as osmotic demyelination.