High Altitude Pulmonary Edema: Analysis of 166 Cases

Ascent to altitude can cause a number of complaints: acute mountain sickness (AMS), high altitude retinal hemorrhages (HARH), high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), and high altitude cerebral edema (HACE). Whereas AMS is harmless and the importance of HARH is not completely understood, HAPE and HACE are life-endangering complications of altitude exposure. The interest in these complaints has increased since more and more people are reaching high altitudes in trekking and mountaineering tourism. Altitude complications occur and are nowadays recognized in mountain regions all over the world. HAPE seems to be the most frequent serious form and to date more than 900 cases have been reported in medical literature (1–43).