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Savioli G, Gri N, Ceresa IF, Piccioni A, Zanza C, Longhitano Y, Ricevuti G, Daccò M, Esposito C, Candura SM. Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: From Occupational Health to Emergency Medicine. J Clin Med 2024; 13:2466. [PMID: 38730995 PMCID: PMC11084260 DOI: 10.3390/jcm13092466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2024] [Revised: 03/20/2024] [Accepted: 04/09/2024] [Indexed: 05/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Carbon monoxide poisoning remains a leading cause of accidental poisoning worldwide (both at home and at work), and it is also a cause of suicidal poisoning. Such poisoning can arise following prolonged exposure to low levels of CO or following brief exposure to high concentrations of the gas. In fact, despite exposure limits, high safety standards, and the availability of CO alarms, nearly 50,000 people in the United States visit the emergency department each year due to poisoning. Additionally, CO poisoning in the United States causes up to 500 deaths each year. Despite the widespread nature of this form of poisoning, known about for centuries and whose damage mechanisms have been recognized (or rather hypothesized about) since the 1800s, early recognition, especially of late complications, and treatment remain a medical challenge. A well-designed therapeutic diagnostic process is necessary so that indication for hyperbaric or normobaric therapy is correctly made and so that patients are followed up even after acute exposure to diagnose late complications early. Furthermore, it is necessary to consider that in the setting of emergency medicine, CO poisoning can be part of a differential diagnosis along with other more frequent conditions, making its recognition difficult. The last thirty years have been marked by a significant increase in knowledge regarding the toxicity of CO, as well as its functioning and its importance at physiological concentrations in mammalian systems. This review, taking into account the significant progress made in recent years, aims to reconsider the pathogenicity of CO, which is not trivially just poisonous to tissues. A revision of the paradigm, especially as regards treatment and sequelae, appears necessary, and new studies should focus on this new point of view.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriele Savioli
- Emergency Department, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Nicole Gri
- Niguarda Cancer Center, ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda, Piazza dell’Ospedale Maggiore, 3, 20162 Milano, Italy;
| | - Iride Francesca Ceresa
- Emergency Department and Internal Medicine, Istituti Clinici di Pavia e Vigevano—Gruppo San Donato, 27029 Vigevano, Italy;
| | - Andrea Piccioni
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Polyclinic Agostino Gemelli/IRCCS, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 00168 Rome, Italy;
| | - Christian Zanza
- Geriatric Medicine Residency Program, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, 00133 Rome, Italy;
| | - Yaroslava Longhitano
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA;
- Department of Emergency Medicine—Emergency Medicine Residency Program, Humanitas University—Research Hospital, 20089 Rozzano, Italy
| | - Giovanni Ricevuti
- Emergency Medicine, School of Pharmacy, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy;
| | - Maurizio Daccò
- ATS Pavia, Continuità Assistenziale, Via Teodoro Lovati, 45, 27100 Pavia, Italy;
| | - Ciro Esposito
- Unit of Nephrology and Dialysis, ICS Maugeri, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy;
| | - Stefano M. Candura
- Occupational Medicine Unit, Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
- Occupational Medicine Unit, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, 27100 Pavia, Italy
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A brief history of carbon monoxide and its therapeutic origins. Nitric Oxide 2021; 111-112:45-63. [PMID: 33838343 DOI: 10.1016/j.niox.2021.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2020] [Revised: 02/03/2021] [Accepted: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
It is estimated that 10% of carbon throughout the cosmos is in the form of carbon monoxide (CO). Earth's earliest prebiotic atmosphere included the trinity of gasotransmitters CO, nitric oxide (NO), and hydrogen sulfide (H2S), for which all of life has co-evolved with. The history of CO can be loosely traced to mythological and prehistoric origins with rudimentary understanding emerging in the middle ages. Ancient literature is focused on CO's deadly toxicity which is understandable in the context of our primitive relationship with coal and fire. Scientific inquiry into CO appears to have emerged throughout the 1700s followed by chemical and toxicological profiling throughout the 1800s. Despite CO's ghastly reputation, several of the 18th and 19th century scientists suggested a therapeutic application of CO. Since 2000, the fundamental understanding of CO as a deadly nuisance has undergone a paradigm shift such that CO is now recognized as a neurotransmitter and viable pharmaceutical candidate. This review is intended to provide a brief history on the trace origins pertaining to endogenous formation and therapeutic application of CO.
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