Acute Mountain Sickness – High Altitude Pulmonary Edema

High altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) is a life-threatening form to mountaineers when they ascend above 2500m (8200ft) in general.

High altitude pulmonary edema mainly causes death because of absence of adequate emergency treatment in high plateau.

Acute Mountain Sickness – High Altitude Pulmonary Edema

High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) is one of the severe Acute Mountain Sickness, which could make people die without emergency treatment. There will be fluid accumulation in the lungs just like drown in the water. For mountaineers, it usually caused by rapid ascend to high mountains without any acclimatization. When get there, if they do some strenuous exercises they will probably suffer high altitude pulmonary edema.

Actually, people who suffer high altitude pulmonary edema would not necessarily show the common signs and symptoms of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). When serious situation occur, the blood oxygen concentration severely descend, cyanosis would be caused and brain function would be disordered, people will die.

Acute Mountain Sickness – High Altitude Pulmonary Edema Prevention

There is something we can do in our daily life to prevent high altitude pulmonary edema prevention. We could do more exercise to strengthen our physique. We should pay attention of regular life style before we go to plateau, and do not stay up late to prevent exhaustion. Or we could have some Rhodiola rosea before going.

When we arrive at plateau, do not drink any alcohol. Keep us warm and healthy. Do not ascend to the top without any acclimatization in the half way.

Acute Mountain Sickness – Signs and Symptoms of High Altitude Pulmonary Edema

When we climb to high mountains, at least two of signs and symptoms of Acute Mountain sickness as below could be diagnosed as high altitude pulmonary edema.

1.Dyspnea at rest, cough, possibly, production of frothy or pink sputum.

2.Weakness or decreased exercise performance.

3.Chest tightness or congestion.

4.Crackles or wheezing in at least one lung field.

5.Central cyanosis such as mouth (blue skin color).

6.Tachypnea (rapid shallow breathing).

7.Tachycardia (rapid heart rate).

Acute Mountain Sickness – Diagnoses of Altitude Pulmonary Edema

Because symptoms may occur gradually, patients may delay seeing a physician for years. Common symptoms are shortness of breath, fatigue, non-productive cough, angina pectoris, fainting or syncope, peripheral edema (swelling around the ankles and feet), and rarely hemoptysis (coughing up blood).

We are kindly to take the physical examination firstly to see the typical signs of pulmonary hypertension and the further procedures are required to confirm the presence of pulmonary hypertension and exclude other possible diagnoses.

Acute Mountain Sickness – High Altitude Pulmonary Edema Treatment

For the emergency treatment of high altitude pulmonary edema, you must climb down to 600-1200m as fast as possible.