Morel's laminar sclerosis.

A 49-year-old alcoholic woman was admitted for convulsions. She died after a 4-week clinical course characterized by a persistent coma with diffuse muscular hypertonia. Post-mortem examination of the brain demonstrated a spongy degeneration and gliosis of the cerebral cortex, limited to the 3rd and the 4th layers. No other pathological lesion of the central nervous system could be objectivated. This is the first reported case in which Morel's laminar sclerosis was the only manifestation of 'alcoholic encephalopathy'. Morel's syndrome should be considered as a pathological entity separate from the Marchiafava-Bignami disease.