Pulmonary edema in acute carbon monoxide poisoning

Summary The chest radiograms and the arterial values were studied in 61 patients suffering from severe acute CO poisoning. 22 patients (36.1%) showed abnormalities on chest film taken at the time of admission. The radiologic pulmonary abnormalities were classified into three patterns: 1. ground glass density, 2. interstitial edema, and 3. intraalveolar edema.Particular emphasis was placed on the diffuse, homogenous and hazy density like ground glass on chest films, as the patients who presented ground glass density showed marked hypoxemia at the time of admission. Clinical symptoms of pulmonary edema were manifested in 4 eases (6.6%) in this series of patients.Pulmonary edema in acute CO poisoning is far commonner than previously considered, and possible mechanism to develop it was discussed.