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A 26-year-old man with a history of chronic alcohol abuse presented with dysarthria, lethargy, and horizontal nystagmus. Results of a clinical examination and blood tests were otherwise normal, including a serum sodium level of 137 mmol per liter and serum osmolality of 287 mOsm per kilogram. Over the next 5 days, spastic quadriparesis and pseudobulbar palsy developed. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain revealed central pontine myelinolysis with a well-defined lesion in the pons of low T1-signal intensity (Panel A, arrow) and high T2-signal intensity (Panel B, arrow). There was sparing of the ventral lateral and cortical spinal . . . [Full Text of this Article] |