Predictors of carbon monoxide poisoning-induced delayed neuropsychological sequelae

Ku, Hsiao-Lun; Yang, Kai-Chun; Lee, Ying-Chiao; Lee, Ming-Been; Chou, Yuan-Hwa

doi:10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2009.11.005

« Previous Next »General Hospital Psychiatry
Volume 32, Issue 3 , Pages 310-314, May 2010

Predictors of carbon monoxide poisoning-induced delayed neuropsychological sequelae

Hsiao-Lun Ku, M.D.
- Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital and National Yang Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan
Kai-Chun Yang, M.D.
- Department of Psychiatry, Yuanshan Veterans Hospital, Yilan 264, Taiwan
Ying-Chiao Lee, M.D.
- Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital and National Yang Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan
Ming-Been Lee, M.D.
- Department of Health, Taiwan Suicide Prevention Center, Executive Yuan 100, Taiwan
- Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University and Hospital, Taipei 100, Taiwan
Yuan-Hwa Chou, M.D., Ph.D.
- Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital and National Yang Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan
- Corresponding author. Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. Tel.: +886 2 2871 1290; fax: +886 2 2876 8403.

Received 15 August 2009; accepted 13 November 2009. published online 11 January 2010.

Abstract

Objective

Carbon monoxide poisoning (COP) commonly results in delayed neuropsychological sequelae (DNS). The aim of the article is to demonstrate the clinical characteristics and potential predictors of COP-induced DNS later.

Method

Retrospective medical record review was performed for patients who had COP in the past year at a National Medical Center in Taiwan. Sixty patients with COP were registered during a one-year period. Fifty-six of them (93.3%) were COP because of suicide attempt. Patients with COP who have a complete medical record of carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) scores were recruited. Multiple regression analysis was performed to search for the predictive factors of DNS.

Results

Forty-three patients were recruited. Most had attempted suicide (93.0%) using CO, and thirteen developed DNS later. A longer duration of admission, more sessions of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and positive findings in brain computed tomography (CT) scans were more often found in patients with DNS than those without DNS. The GCS and MMSE scores and positive findings in brain CT scans were associated with the development of DNS but COHb was not.