Citation

Paganini M, Thom SR. Front. Med. (Lausanne) 2024; 11: e1411547.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, Frontiers Media)

DOI

10.3389/fmed.2024.1411547

PMID

38690173

PMCID

PMC11058982

Abstract

Carbon Monoxide (CO). This name will ring a bell in the reader's mind as a gas that is poisonous, colorless, and odorless. Also, one will recall that CO intoxication is challenging to diagnose due to these physical properties and to the unspecific symptoms and clinical signs manifested, often overlapping with several potential other diseases. With this Research Topic titled "Carbon monoxide poisoning: updates on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment," we gathered updates and improvements in the abovementioned fields. Ten manuscripts were submitted, and five were accepted: two discussing the "diagnosis" field, two with a prognostic perspective, and one discussing CO intoxication treatment. Overall, it is unfortunate that public health aspects dealing with "prevention" have not attracted a submission, which we hope for the future.

The diagnosis of CO intoxication is an interplay among clinical presentation, biomarkers, and a suspect CO source found in the location where the intoxication occurred. Unfortunately, each element has significant limitations. First, there is low awareness among clinicians, which critically impairs accurate and timely diagnosis (1). Moreover, a wide range of symptoms have been described in CO poisoning, from a mild headache (the most prevalent) to coma and death. The suspicion of intoxication may arise if the situation is suggestive of CO generation, e.g., from fires or heat generators in poorly ventilated spaces. However, rescue teams may not identify such intoxication sources or inconsistently report them to clinicians. Patients may also present to health care workers autonomously with symptoms but without reporting a suspected source or etiology, making the diagnosis more difficult.

Oliverio has summarized the state of the art regarding diagnostic biomarkers...

Language: en

Keywords

carbon monoxide; emergency medicine; hyperbaric medicine; intensive care; oxygen; toxicology