Pathophysiology,prevention,and treatment advances in high-altitude illness
LIU Runze
PANG Yongjie
ZHANG Mei
CHEN Keming
Abstract：High-altitude illness is a general term for a series of maladaptation syndromes caused by acute or chronic exposure to altitude above 2 500 meters.It mainly includes acute altitude sickness,high-altitude cerebral edema,high-altitude pulmonary edema,chronic altitude sickness and high-altitude pulmonary hypertension,which can eventually lead to right ventricular hypertrophy and heart failure.Acute altitude sickness,characterized by headache,nausea,dizziness,and fatigue,is usually benign and self-limited and is associated with hypoxia-induced increase in cerebral blood volume,inflammation,and associated activation of the trigeminal nervous system.Disruption of the blood-brain barrier results in high-altitude cerebral edema,which is characterized by altered mental status and ataxia.Increased pulmonary capillary pressure and associated stress-induced heart failure trigger high-altitude pulmonary edema,which is characterized by dyspnea,cough,and exercise intolerance.Chronic altitude sickness is characterized by erythrocytosis and associated clinical symptoms.Appropriate adaptation by slowly escalating hypoxic stimuli(such as a slow ascent to high altitude)and/or repeated exposure to high altitude or artificially normobaric oxygen will largely prevent these disorders.A comprehensive understanding of the pathophysiological features of high-altitude illness is essential to optimize hypoxic adaptation for effective prevention and development of new treatment options.
Keywords：acute altitude sicknesshigh-altitude cerebral edemahigh-altitude pulmonary edemachronic high-altitude sicknesshigh-altitude pulmonary hypertensionreview
Publication Date：2025-10-13
Online Publishing Date：2025-10-21(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：10( 122-131 )