Citation

Kaleemi R, Anwar SS, Ahmed A. Cureus 2021; 13(9): e17772.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Curēus)

DOI

10.7759/cureus.17772

PMID

34659983

PMCID

PMC8494245

Abstract

Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is one of the most common causes of morbidity secondary to accidental or intentional exposure. It is a potentially life-threatening disease. We present the case of a 23-year-old male patient who slept with a gas generator the whole night in a closed room. The next morning the patient presented to emergency with altered mentation. His Glasgow Coma Scale score was 8/15 on arrival. The patient had cerebral hemorrhages on presentation with diffuse cerebral hypoxic injury and bilateral globus pallidus signals. Hemorrhagic infarction in the brain is a rare presentation of CO poisoning and even rarer as an early manifestation of this disease. We present a case of bilateral posterior cerebral hemorrhagic infarctions with a diffuse hypoxic insult as an early presentation of CO poisoning in a young male, which to our knowledge has rarely been reported. Early imaging and prompt medical attention can be life-saving.

Language: en

Keywords

magnetic resonance imaging; carbon monoxide poisoning; globus pallidus; hemorrhagic infarcts; hypoxic injury; white matter demyelination