Potential markers for predicting delayed encephalopathy in patients with acute carbon monoxide poisoning

Acute carbon monoxide poisoning (ACOP) commonly results in delayed neuropsychiatric sequelae (DNS). Currently, there are no reliable predictors. The aim of this article is to establish a practical model for predicting the development of delayed encephalopathy clinically.Retrospective analysis of clinical data were performed at a single institution for the past 6 years. 107 patients with ACOP were recruited, of who 67 developed DNS and 40 did not. Clinical characteristics of the patients were analyzed between the two groups. The risk factors associated with DNS development were screened to identify the potential markers for predicting DNS. A predictive model was then built, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to assess its predictive ability.There were significant differences in 13 clinical features between the two groups. Four potential markers were identified. They were age, source of CO, Glasgow Coma Scale score and the initiation of HBOT. The potential predictive model showed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.93 in the training set and 0.97 in the testing set.Our model could calculate the probability of DNS after acute CO poisoning.