Subacute mountain sickness occurs when people who do not usually live at high altitudes present symptoms that appear as a result of an extended stay over weeks or months above 3,000 m.
It is caused by a lack of oxygen suffered by the tissues at high altitude. This causes vasoconstriction of the pulmonary arterioles and an increase in red blood cells. It triggers hypertension of the pulmonary arteries and an overburden of the right ventricle of the heart.
It manifests with dyspnea, coughing, swelling in the face and lower limbs, enlargement of the veins in the neck, an enlarged liver, ascites, and angina pectoris related to strain.
It is diagnosed by the symptoms with the medical history and physical exploration.
Treatment consists of descending, supportive countermeasures and symptomatic treatment.
- Scott A Gallagher. High altitude illness: Physiology, risk factors, and general prevention. UpToDate. Abril 2015
- Hackett PH. High-altitude medicine. In: Wilderness Medicine, 6th, Auerbach PS (Eds), Elsevier, Philadelphia 2012. p.2.
- Scoggin CH. High-altitude pulmonary edema in the children and young adults of Leadville, Colorado. N Engl J Med 1977; 297:1269.
- West JB, American College of Physicians, American Physiological Society. The physiologic basis of high-altitude diseases. Ann Intern Med 2004; 141:789.
- Buddha Basnya. Enfermedad de las altitudes. Harrison. Principios de Medicina Interna, 19e. Capítulo 476E
