Marchiafava-Bignami Disease: A Rare Disease with MRI Findings and Literature Review

  • Ateeque Ahmed Khan Chairperson and Head of Radiology Department, Dow University of Health Sciences/Civil Hospital Karachi
  • Sasui Memon Resident Radiology Department, Dow University of Health Sciences/Civil Hospital Karachi
  • Rehana Shaikh Consultant Radiology, CT & MRI Centre, Dow University of Health Sciences/Civil Hospital Karachi
  • Unaiza Raheem Resident Radiology Department, Dow University of Health Sciences/Civil Hospital Karachi

Abstract

Marchiafava bignami disease (MBD) is an unusual complication of chronic alcoholism that typically results in demylination of corpus callosum, but sometimes it can involve the adjacent white matter and even the subcortical and cortical regions. The pathophysiology of MBD is still unknown but thought to be due to vitamin B complex deficiency. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is crucial for its diagnosis that shows the characteristic lesions in corpus callosum which may also extend into deep white matter, subcortical and cortical regions. We present a case of Marchiafava bignami disease in 55-year chronic alcoholic referred to us for MRI brain by Medical unit. This case is presented here for its rarity along with its clinical and radiological findings as well as literature review to generate awareness regarding this uncommon toxic complication of chronic alcoholism.

Published
2018-01-08
Issue
Vol 6 No 4 (2017): Oct-Dec 2017
Section
Case Reports

Creative Commons License
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.