Copeptin levels in carbon monoxide poisoning

Background/aim: The aim of this study is to identify the copeptin levels in patients presenting with carbon monoxide ( CO) poisoning to the emergency department and to investigate its correlation with the neurological effects. Materials and methods: The study group consisted of patients presenting with CO poisoning and carboxyhemoglobin levels > 10%. Blood samples for copeptin levels were obtained twice, first at presentation then at the fourth hour of observation. The data were analyzed using SPSS 16 for Windows. Results: The median copeptin levels of the patient group were identified as 0.63 (0.39-1.06) ng/mL at hour 0 and 0.41 (0.31-0.49) at hour 4. The copeptin levels of the control group were 0.34 (0.25-0.42) ng/mL and were significantly lower than those of the patient group ( P < 0.000). According to our results, 0.345 ng/mL for plasma copeptin level as the best cut- off level may be used with sensitivity of 94.0% and specificity of 60%. The copeptin levels at hour 0 were statistically significantly higher in the neurologically affected patients than those not affected ( P < 0.001). Conclusion: In this study it was shown that blood copeptin levels increase in patients presenting to the emergency department with CO poisoning.