Central pontine myelinolysis in chronic hyponatremic patient: a case report

A 59-year-old woman had chronic hyponatremia from inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) and malnutrition after recurrent cholecystitis for 2 months. She developed dysarthria, dysphagia, bilateral ptosis, clonic convulsions and delayed onset Parkinsonian features. Magnetic resonance imaging showed increased signal density in the central pons on T2-weighted images. She was also later diagnosed as having systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This case is reported because central pontine myelinolysis (CPM) developed in chronic hyponatremia without correction, and manifested with atypical, delayed-onset Parkinsonian features. The patient recovered well from her neurological illness, unlike the poor outcome in previously reported cases of CPM. In addition, the coincidence of CPM and SLE has not, to knowledge, been reported before.