Carbon monoxide poisoning: clinical, neurophysiological, and brain imaging observations in acute disease and follow-up.
Five patients (aged 19-52 years) were treated for a midbrain syndrome due to acute carbon monoxide poisoning and had clinical follow-up investigations for up to 18 months. Three patients recovered with minor neurological and neuro-psychological deficits and resumed their premorbid life-style. One patient had normal findings, while the fifth remained in a permanent vegetative state. Initial CT of the brain may fail to detect low-density lesions in the globus pallidus. If present, these lesions may either have disappeared, diminished, or remained unchanged at follow-up. Long-term outcome seems to show a closer link to white matter changes, which are at present best investigated by magnetic resonance imaging. The additional value of determining visual evoked responses at repeated follow-up is suggested by the present investigation.
Vieregge
P
P
Klinik für Neurologie, Medizinische Universität zu Lübeck, Federal Republic of Germany.
Klostermann
W
W
Blümm
R G
RG
Borgis
K J
KJ
D000328:Adult; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D002249:Carbon Monoxide Poisoning / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed