Cardiac dysfunction including arrhythmias and myocardial ischemia have often been reported in carbon monoxide poisoning; scattered punctiform hemorrhages throughout the heart have been documented in autopsy samples. An appropriate diagnostic approach is crucial to assess carbon monoxide cardiac damage. This evaluation may be confounded by several factors, including the absence of overt symptoms and of specific ischemic changes in the electrocardiogram. In experimental studies, laboratory animals can develop cardiac changes similar to those seen in humans and therefore proved to be useful models to study the effects and the mechanisms of cardiac damage due to carbon monoxide. These investigations, as well as others performed in vitro, provide support for a direct action of carbon monoxide on the heart, in addition to systemic hypoxia produced by carboxyhemoglobin formation. This review focuses on the diagnostic aspects of carbon monoxide cardiotoxicity. Experimental results obtained in animals and in vitro models are also discussed.
The discordant results of a comparison between calculated and perceived screen complexity of 14 Italian Institutional Cancer Web Sites are described here.
Data from the literature show that prolonged-release injectable antipsychotics (LAIs) ensure constant blood drug levels better patient compliance and offer a simpler treatment regimen for both patients and caregivers. This observational-descriptive study aims to detect the possible complications found in newborns of women with bipolar or psychotic disorders and LAI therapy during pregnancy.This study involved women with psychotic disorders during pregnancy who contacted the Teratology Information Center of Bergamo, Italy between 2016 and 2021 to receive counseling on the possible risks of exposure to LAI therapy. The follow-up procedure was carried out by telephone interview or direct contact with the patient and/or her physician.In this study, LAI treatment in pregnancy was not associated with an increased risk of malformations. All but one of the children in the sample were born healthy and the mothers maintained psychopathological compensation during pregnancy.This study showed that, despite the small size of the sample under examination, the administration of LAIs do not compromise the normal intrauterine development of the unborn child and there were no evident major malformations.
Background: Cardiovascular disorders including myocardial ischemia and heart failure have been described in both laboratory animals and humans following carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide cardiotoxicity may be clinically occult and often remains undiagnosed because of the lack of overt symptoms and specific ischemic changes in the electrocardiogram. Routine myocardial necrosis markers have low diagnostic efficiency, particularly in patients with concomitant skeletal muscle necrosis or multiple organ failure complicating carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide-induced cardiotoxicity has been investigated rarely in children. Case Report: This paper describes carbon monoxide poisoning in a 12-year-old child who suffered from occult cardiac damage despite mild symptoms and low carboxyhemoglobin concentrations. Myocardial and mitral valve dysfunctions were observed, suggesting an ischemia-like syndrome. Cardiac damage was completely reversible within 1 month. Conclusion: This case report supports that a prolonged carbon monoxide exposure can cause cardiac damage in children even in the absence of specific symptoms, cerebral failure and high carboxyhemoglobin concentrations.
