[Carbon monoxide poisoning in children hospitalized in the pediatric institute in Lódź in the years 1994-1997].

Carbon monoxide poisoning is the major cause of inhalation intoxications among children. Tissue hypoxia plays the important role in the pathophysiology of CO poisoning. Especially the CNS and heart are the most susceptible organs to the oxygen deficiency. Presented signs and symptoms are nonspecific and often lead to misdiagnosis. In this article authors present 100 children, aged from 4 weeks to 15 years, hospitalized in the Pediatrics Institute in the period 1994-1997 after carbon monoxide exposition. The most frequent symptoms of this poisoning were headache (46%) and dizziness (25%). We also observed abdominal pain, vomitus, fatigue, weakness and syncope. We estimated the frequency of CO poisoning in relation to the total number of intoxications in children treated in our hospital, clinical course and relationship with carboxyhemoglobin concentration. The analysis shows that CO poisoning is an important and growing toxicological problem among children. Language: pl