Central Pontine Myelinolysis (CPM), another neurological disorder strongly linked to a history of alcoholism, is likely due to low sodium and other electrolyte disturbances (Messert, Orrison, Hawkins, & Quaglieri, 1979). Patients develop symptoms such as decreased voluntary muscle control and acute changes in consciousness (S. Kumar, Fowler, Gonzalez-Toledo, & Jaffe, 2006; Pfister, Einhaupl, & Brandt, 1985). “Bat-wing” lesions in the pons appearing hypointense (dark) on T1-weighted or hyperintense (bright) on T2-weighted images (Figure 1D) (DeWitt et al., 1984; Kleinschmidt-Demasters, Rojiani, & Filley, 2006; Pfister et al., 1985) likely reflect loss of cellular and axonal integrity.
