Carbon monoxide poisoning as an epigenetic factor for Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy

A 45-year-old Korean woman visited our hospital complaining of poor vision after carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. We have confirmed the presence of a point mutation at position 11778 in the ND4 gene of mitochondrial DNA. This case suggests that CO poisoning may precipitate the clinical expression of Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). To our knowledge, this would be the first case report of clinical expression of LHON precipitated by CO poisoning.