Long-term effects of carbon monoxide poisoning at Miike coal mine: A 33-year follow-up study.

On November 9, 1963, a coal dust explosion occurred at the Miike Mikawa Coal Mine (Omuta, Kyushu Region of Japan). This resulted in a massive release of carbon monoxide (CO) gas that resulted in 458 fatalities and 839 victims of CO poisoning. After the accident, the Department of Neuropsychiatry, Kumamoto University School of Medicine (including the authors) immediately began to conduct periodic medical examinations of the victims. Such a long-term follow up of so many CO-poisoned patients is globally unprecedented. When the Miike Mine was closed in March of 1997, 33 years after the disaster, we conducted the final follow-up study.