CENTRAL PONTINE MYELINOLYSIS IN AIDS

Central pontine myelinolysis (CPM) is an uncommon complication in sick patients with severe underlying disorders such as chronic alcoholism, malignancy, malnutrition and hyponatraemia. We report two patients wi th advanced HIV infection who developed CPM. In one case the diagnosis was not suspected in life, in the other the diagnosis was made just b efore death, on the basis of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging appearanc es. At post mortem there was a close correlation between the MR abnorm alities and the anatomic changes in the pens.