Paucisymptomatic and reversible myelinolysis after an anaphylactic shock

Myelinolysis is characterized by a non inflammatory demyelination, affecting the central portion of the pons. Clinical features usually reflect damage to the descending motor tracts and include spastic tetraparesis, pseudobulbar paralysis, and the locked-in syndrome. We describe the case of a 58-year-old man, who developed a pontine and extrapontine myelinolysis, without hyponatremia, after an anaphylactic shock. Follow up demonstrated improvement of the clinical signs after a few days and the normalization of the MRI three months later. Our observation shows that a paucisymptomatic and spontaneously regressive myelinolysis can be the consequence of a state of shock.