A Challenge to the Healthcare Community: The Diagnosis of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

There are many problems with CO poisoning generally (Table 19.1). Although CO is a very simple molecule, its mechanisms of action are complex and multiple. There is more to its pathophysiology than simply the tying up of hemoglobin such that oxygen cannot be transported. It traverses the blood-barrier and dissolves in the protoplasm of cells, attaching there to a variety of molecules.