Intracardiac Thrombosis and Multiple Arterial Thromboembolism with Acute Limb Ischemia: A Rare Complication of Carbon Monoxide Intoxication

Abstract

Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is a very common reason for emergency ward admission, with symptoms varying from a simple headache and dizziness to severe neurological and cardiac impairment. We report here a rare clinical presentation of CO intoxication manifested by a severe cardiac impairment with intracardiac thrombus formation, acute limb ischemia, renal infarction, and carotid artery thrombosis. There have been initial reports of thromboembolic events in acute CO poisoning with intracardiac thrombosis being sparsely reported. Contrary to venous thromboembolism, arterial thromboembolism in CO poisoning seems to be extremely rare. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report in recent literature of a combined intracardiac thrombosis and multiple arterial thromboembolism induced by CO poisoning.

Keywords

carbon monoxide poisoning - intracardiac thrombus formation - acute limb ischemia - arterial thromboembolism - renal infarction - carotid artery thrombosis - carboxyhemoglobin

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