High Altitude Illness

Abstract

THE INCREASING incidence of altitude illness is mainly caused by the ease and speed with which large numbers of people are now able to reach previously remote high mountain regions. In a recent article inThe Journal, Kleiner and Nelson¹stated that "high altitude pulmonary edema... is considered a rare entity in the United States and regarded as more of physiologic interest than clinical importance.... This presumed rarity may be unfounded and may actually represent a rarity in recognition rather than incidence." Pulmonary edema is only one of several manifestations of altitude illness. Despite the increasing frequency with which it is being described, many physicians are unaware of the problem, rarely see patients either in the acute or recovery stage, and are hesitant or unable to give appropriate advice as to future activities of patients who have been afflicted once. There are three major clinical manifestations of altitude illness: