Neuropsychological sequelae of carbon monoxide toxicity at eleven-year follow-up

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Abstract
This is a case study of a man who experienced accidental carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning and who developed neurological sequelae which led to his psychiatric hospitalization 4 years later. Skull x-rays, EEG, brain scan, and CT scan were all within normal limits at the time of hospitalization, but the patient demonstrated moderate intellectual impairment, including marked visual/spatial deficits, as well as other neuropsychological difficulties. A follow-up evaluation 11 years after the poisoning indicated moderate improvement, however, the visual/spatial deficits were relatively unimproved. The authors concluded that it is important to evaluate the cognitive impairment of CO victims over time: that the apparent diffuse neurological impairment of these patients may, in reality, be a stable and discrete pattern of neurological impairment; and that CO victims who appear to have “totally recovered”; may, to the contrary, have lingering neurological impairments which are not immediately obvious without careful study.