A 40 year old man had an episode of severe pulmonary oedema at 4000-5000 m during the ascent of the Margherita peak (5109 m) of Mount Stanley on the Ruwenzori. He had taken acetazolamide and high dose dexamethasone to treat symptoms of acute mountain sickness. Six years before he had been studied by right heart catheterisation as a healthy volunteer during hypoxic breathing at sea level. His pu...

In this paper are reviewed the present status of respiratory diseases in relation to high and low altitude environments. H igh A ltitu d e Sickness I n t k o d u c t i o n Mountain sickness occurs in both an acute form and a chronic form. Only re­ cently has this been studied to any degree; however, the first description was by a Peruvian in 1897.8 In 1937, Hurtado de­ scribed a case of pulmona...

In high-altitude climbers, the kidneys play a crucial role in acclimatization and in mountain sickness syndromes [acute mountain sickness (AMS), high-altitude cerebral edema, high-altitude pulmonary edema] through their roles in regulating body fluids, electrolyte and acid-base homeostasis. Here, we discuss renal responses to several high-altitude-related stresses, including changes in systemic...