A Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of Acute Carbon Monoxide Poisoning in Humans

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the brain function characteristics of carbon monoxide poisoning patients using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) method. For this purpose, 12 carbon monoxide poisoning patients and healthy controls were subjected to resting-state fMRI scans separately. A regional homogeneity (ReHo) approach was used to analyze the brain function in carbon monoxide poisoning patients. Compared with control group, the value of ReHo in carbon monoxide poisoning group showed distinct decrease in bilateral superior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, right cuneus, left middle temporal gyrus, right insula, and cerebellum. Therefore, it was concluded that the brain functions in carbon monoxide poisoning patients were abnormal under the resting-state. The cuneate lobe function may indicate the degree of brain hypoxia and strengthening the cerebellar function training may promote the rehabilitation process.

A Graph Theory Study of Resting‐State Functional MRI Connectivity in Children With Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

“…In the present experiment, we focused on brain functional changes in children with CO intoxication, but previous studies have shown that adult and pediatric patients with CO intoxication are not identical in terms of brain injury and clinical prognosis. Liu et al found reduced homogeneity (ReHo) in the frontal, insula, occipital, temporal, and cerebellar regions of patients in an fMRI study after CO intoxication in adults, 9 and although our study also found impaired nodal topological properties in the frontal nodes of the affected children, we also found impaired nodal topological properties in the basal ganglia region of the affected children, which was not found in that study. We speculate that it may be related to the fact that the middle cerebral artery in children is much less responsive to hypercapnia than in adults, 37 resulting in reduced cerebrovascular reserve in children and thus more pronounced clinical symptoms in adolescents 38 .…”

“…The case group of this study was patients with CO poisoning admitted to the emergency department of our hospital from December 2020 to March 2021. Inclusion criteria 9 : 1) under the age of 18; 2) a history of CO exposure; 3) signs and symptoms of central nervous system injury after poisoning; 4) blood COHb level consistent with the national diagnostic criteria. Exclusion criteria: 1) over the age of 18; 2) excessive head movement during MRI scans (more than 2 mm or 2° in any direction); 3) history of serious neurological or psychiatric illness; 4) history of severe head trauma.…”

“…Most of the current studies on CO poisoning are concentrated on cerebral structural changes and [3][4][5][6][7] little is devoted to the early cerebral function. 8,9 The lack of detailed studies on the changes of brain functional networks after CO poisoning, especially in young patients with rapidly developing brain functions, limits our comprehensive understanding of the disease caused by CO poisoning.…”

Abnormal Brain Functional Network Dynamics in Acute CO Poisoning

“…However, more studies have been conducted on delayed encephalopathy following acute CO poisoning ( Hou et al, 2013 ; Lee et al, 2018 ; Wu et al, 2020a , b ), in which the main pathological changes are extensive demyelination of the brain’s white matter, bilateral symmetrical pallidocyte ischemia, and necrosis. There are only a few studies on brain function alterations during the acute phase of CO poisoning ( Dinghua et al, 2013 ).…”

Editorial for “A Graph Theory Study of Resting‐State Functional MRI Connectivity in Children With Carbon Monoxide Poisoning”

“…2 Both the acute effects and the treatment protocols of CO poisoning have well-elaborated literature, along with the description of long-term neuropsychiatric and cardiac sequelae. On the other hand, the literature on resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) abnormalities in CO intoxication is rather modest, 4,5 and this is particularly true regarding the studies of the underaged population, where the rapidly developing brain possibly voids the general findings based on adult samples and limits our comprehensive understanding of the disease.…”