Carbon Monoxide: A Rare Cause of Myocardial Ischemia

Abstract

In an acute care setting, chemical asphyxiants (CA) are a vice which cause debilitating injury. Carbon monoxide (CO) is one well known CA which causes hypoxic injury to cardiovascular and neurological tissue. CO poisoning is one of the leading causes of death in USA. As many as 6% of patients who get admitted with CO poisoning in the USA have acute myocardial infarction. A strong positive correlation of CO Hb concentration has been established with increased incidence of MIs. We present a case of a 75-year-old male with complaints of chest discomfort, dyspnea, diaphoresis that was attributed to CO poisoning. Over the course of his stay he had two sets of positive serial troponins and was diagnosed with a non-ST elevation MI. Most of the recent literature focuses on ST elevation and T wave inversions in patients with CO poisoning. Contrary to this, our patient did not exhibit any EKG changes at any point during his hospital course. CO poisoning can cause fatal complications including an MI.

Keywords

• Carbon Monoxide
• CO
• MI
• Myocardial Infarcation
• Myocardial Ischemia