Otoneurologic manifestations following carbon monoxide poisoning

Otoneurologic examinations were conducted in the 15 patients who suffered from acute carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning in a coal mine accident. The audiologic and vestibular derangement found in the patients were not significant, but were suggestive of central origin. One victim in the same accident, who had severe psychopathological symptoms and had no otoneurologic complaint, showed moderate histopathological changes in the cerebrum in the presence of no specific change of the inner ears. The effect of CO poisoning on the threshold sensitivity of the auditory responses was studied in a CO poisoning animal model of guinea pigs. Loss of auditory threshold sensitivity was most prominent at the auditory cortex, and was next most severe at the inferior colliculus. There was no loss of sensitivity at the cochlea. Some of the patients mentioned above have been studied again about 25 years after the accident. It is felt that there must be increased and more considerable widespread pathology in the brain following ...