A clinical study on the interval form of carbon monoxide intoxication

Longitudinal study of 4 cases of the interval form of carbon monoxide (CO) intoxication is presented along with the results of computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The lucid interval, which describes the interval between the acute phase of intoxication and the emergence of the delayed neurological sequelae, varied from 17 to 32 days. In all four cases the most characteristic symptoms were mental deterioration, urinary and fecal incontinence, gait disturbance and mutism. In two of the cases other neuropsychological symptoms, such as spacial agnosia, finger agnosia, and dressing apraxia were experienced in two of the cases. CT scans in 3 of the 4 cases showed low density area in the white matter of the frontal lobe as the neuropathological substrate involved. The one case whose CT scan showed no abnormal signs in the white matter was investigated with MRI and an area of abnormality was identified in the periventricular region of the frontal lobe