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Markiafava-Bignami disease: causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment
Last reviewed: 07.07.2025
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Marchiafava-Bignami disease is rare and is a demyelination of the corpus callosum associated with chronic alcoholism, usually seen in men.
The nature of the pathology links this disease with osmotic demyelination syndrome (previously called central pontine myelolysis), of which this disorder may be a variant. In Marchiafava-Bignami disease, agitation and confusion are observed against a background of progressive dementia and signs of frontal disinhibition. Some patients recover after a few months; others experience seizures and coma, which can lead to death.