Marchiafava-Bignami disease with recovery diagnosed by CT and MRI: demyelination affects several CNS structures.

Marchiafava-Bignami disease (MBD) is a rare complication of chronic alcoholism. Most reported cases have been diagnosed at autopsy. With CT and, especially, MRI it is possible to diagnose MBD in its early stages. Lesions of CNS structures other than the typical demyelination of the corpus callosum are described ante mortem in a patient with MBD. The more frequent use of CT and MRI in sudden onset encephalopathies of alcoholics could reveal the real incidence of MBD, and the consequent detection of other involved CNS systems might improve our knowledge about the aetiology, pathogenesis, prognosis and therapy of MBD.