Veterinary and human toxicology
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Myonecrosis is an unusual sequelae to carbon monoxide poisoning with only 16 cases having been reported in the English-language literature. At the University of Illinois Hospital, we encountered a 25-year-old fire academy student who presented to our Emergency Department with a carboxyhemoglobin level of 16% following a training exercise in a smoke-filled room. The patient was not wearing a self-contained breathing apparatus and his duration of exposure was 7-8 min, by which time he had blacked out for about 1 min. ⋯ No oliguria was noted and the CPK fell to 893 five days later. This is the only case in the English-language literature who developed myonecrosis from carbon monoxide, despite hyperbaric oxygen treatment. We believe that this case demonstrates that hyperbaric oxygen cannot prevent the development of myonecrosis induced by carbon monoxide.