Skip to main content
PMC home page
Thorax logoLink to Thorax
. 1983 Sep;38(9):646–656. doi: 10.1136/thx.38.9.646

Altitude-related deaths in seven trekkers in the Himalayas.

J Dickinson, D Heath, J Gosney, D Williams
PMCID: PMC459631  PMID: 6623417

Abstract

The clinical features and necropsy findings are described for seven trekkers in the Himalayas whose deaths were related to high altitude. The fatal outcome was due to serious pulmonary and cerebral disease. Oedema of the lungs and brain was prominent but so was thrombosis and haemorrhage, features of acute mountain sickness that have received insufficient recognition in the past. Most of the men were middle aged. Some began their trekking soon after flying to high altitude before becoming acclimatised and some remained at high altitude or climbed even higher despite the development of vomiting, breathlessness, and exhaustion. In one case death occurred despite prompt recognition and treatment of symptoms by administration of oxygen and swift evacuation to low altitude.

Full text

PDF
646

Images in this article

647Image
on p.647
648Image
on p.648
650Image
on p.650
650Image
on p.650
651Image
on p.651
652Image
on p.652

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. ARIAS-STELLA J., KRUGER H. PATHOLOGY OF HIGH ALTITUDE PULMONARY EDEMA. Arch Pathol. 1963 Aug;76:147–157. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Birks J. W., Klassen L. W., Gurney C. W. Hypoxia-induced thrombocytopenia in mice. J Lab Clin Med. 1975 Aug;86(2):230–238. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Dickinson J. G. Severe acute mountain sickness. Postgrad Med J. 1979 Jul;55(645):454–460. doi: 10.1136/pgmj.55.645.454. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Dickinson J. G. Terminology and classification of acute mountain sickness. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1982 Sep 11;285(6343):720–721. doi: 10.1136/bmj.285.6343.720. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Gray G. W., Bryan A. C., Freedman M. H., Houston C. S., Lewis W. F., McFadden D. M., Newell G. Effect of altitude exposure on platelets. J Appl Physiol. 1975 Oct;39(4):648–652. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1975.39.4.648. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Heath D., Moosavi H., Smith P. Ultrastructure of high altitude pulmonary oedema. Thorax. 1973 Nov;28(6):694–700. doi: 10.1136/thx.28.6.694. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Horrobin D. F., Cholmondeley H. G. High altitude pulmonary oedema: pathophysiology and recommendations for prevention and treatment. East Afr Med J. 1972 Apr;49(4):327–331. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Houston C. S., Dickinson J. Cerebral form of high-altitude illness. Lancet. 1975 Oct 18;2(7938):758–761. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(75)90735-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. NAYAK N. C., ROY S., NARAYANAN T. K. PATHOLOGIC FEATURES OF ALTITUDE SICKNESS. Am J Pathol. 1964 Sep;45:381–391. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Penaloza D., Sime F. Circulatory dynamics during high altitude pulmonary edema. Am J Cardiol. 1969 Mar;23(3):369–378. doi: 10.1016/0002-9149(69)90517-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Singh I., Chohan I. S. Abnormalities of blood coagulation at high altitude. Int J Biometeorol. 1972 Aug;16(3):283–297. doi: 10.1007/BF01553740. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Singh I., Chohan I. S. Blood coagulation changes at high altitude predisposing to pulmonary hypertension. Br Heart J. 1972 Jun;34(6):611–617. doi: 10.1136/hrt.34.6.611. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Singh I., Khanna P. K., Srivastava M. C., Lal M., Roy S. B., Subramanyam C. S. Acute mountain sickness. N Engl J Med. 1969 Jan 23;280(4):175–184. doi: 10.1056/NEJM196901232800402. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Thorax are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES