Gökhan Aksel1, Şeref Kerem Çorbacıoğlu2, Can Özen3

1University of Health Sciences, Ümraniye Training and Research Hospital, Emergency Medicine Clinic, İstanbul, Turkey
2University of Health Sciences, Keçiören Training and Research Hospital, Emergency Medicine Clinic, Ankara, Turkey
3Emergency Department, King's College Hospital, London, UK

Keywords: Altitude sickness, Mountain sickness, Altitude hypoxia, Brain edema, Emergency medicine

Abstract

In high altitudes, usually above 2500 m, travelers are faced with decreased partial pressure of oxygen along with decreased barometric pressure. High-altitude illness, a syndrome of acute mountain sickness, high-altitude cerebral edema and high-altitude pulmonary edema, occurs due to the hypobaric hypoxia when there is inadequate acclimatization.

This review provides detailed information about pathophysiology, clinical features, prevention and treatment strategies for high-altitude illness according to the current literature.