Emergency Medical Minute Podcast 622: High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE)
Contributor: Thomas Seibert, MD
Educational Pearls:
- High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) typically occurs 2-4 days after arriving at elevation
- Symptoms include:
-
- Fatigue
- Dyspnea
- Cough
- Treatment includes:
-
- Descent to lower elevation
- Oxygen supplementation
- Nifedipine
- Caused by sympathetic stimulation from hypobaric hypoxic exposure, causing uneven pulmonary vasculature constriction and when paired with a leaky endothelium, pulmonary edema. #science
References
Swenson ER, Bärtsch P. High-altitude pulmonary edema. Compr Physiol. 2012 Oct;2(4):2753-73. doi: 10.1002/cphy.c100029. PMID: 23720264.
Johnson NJ, Luks AM. High-Altitude Medicine. Med Clin North Am. 2016 Mar;100(2):357-69. doi: 10.1016/j.mcna.2015.09.002. PMID: 26900119.
Hultgren HN. High-altitude pulmonary edema: current concepts. Annu Rev Med. 1996;47:267-84. doi: 10.1146/annurev.med.47.1.267. PMID: 8712781.
Summarized by Jackson Roos, MSIV | Edited by Erik Verzemnieks, MD
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