United States: Marchiafava-Bignami disease (MBD) is very rare brain disorder which is oftenly linked to heavy drinking. It causes damage to a part of the brain called the corpus callosum, leading to problems with thinking, movement, and even awareness.
People with MBD can have symptoms like confusion, trouble speaking, and difficulty walking. Early treatment is very important to help improve recovery. A 43-year-old woman who drank alcohol for many years was diagnosed with MBD after experiencing these symptoms for 15 days.
As reported by Cures.com, MRI brain results suggested MBD which was confirmed by gross features and micro skull thinning; the anterior corpus callosum was diffusely oedematous and horribly demyelinated acutely. The patient was given high doses of intravenous thiamine and other B vitamins, over time there was marked clinical improvement. A month later she’s able to speak properly and also walk without assistance.
Marchiafava Bignami disease or MBD is a clinical entity that presents clinical and pathological features indicative of a demyelinative disease with characteristic pathological involvement of the corpus callosum and associated subcortical white matter. First reported as a condition by two Italian physicians in 1903, MBD is mainly linked with chronic alcoholism.
Depending on the chronicity periods the clinical presentation is acute, subacute or chronic, and the most common clinical signs and symptoms are interhemispheric syndrome: confusion, disorientation dysarthria, impaired coordination of movement and seizures and chronic cognitive dysfunction. MRI is commonly used in diagnosing NF1 and other conditions and commonly shows some specific changes in the corpus callosum.
Regarding its origin, while primary MBD is suspected to be as a result of combined influences of genes, inadequate nutrient intake, and ethanol neurotoxicity. It is rather limited to supportive care and complete elimination of alcohol from the patient’s system. Outcome ranges from improved to unchanged or, less commonly, worse neurologic state with progression to an irreversible disabling and confining condition.
This is the story of a 43-year-old woman with no prior comorbidities apart from alcohol dependence (160 grams of ethanol daily). Her major symptoms included difficulty in speaking, confusion, and altered ability to walk on her own for 15 days.
Five days prior to the first medical observation, she ceased consuming alcohol. She is an illiterate, 40-year-old woman from a rural setting who presented in a confused state and disoriented to time and place; she had dysarthria, imprecise, slurred and uncoordinated speech.
She failed in sustained attention and another task of digit span backward. She had decreased movements but not side affected, mild decreased strength proximally and distally in both upper and lower limbs both being 4/5.