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Objective To analyze characteristics of high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) in Chinese patients.Methods We performed a retrospective study of 98 patients with HAPE. We reviewed the medical records and summarized the clinical, laboratory and imaging characteristics of these cases, and compared the results on admission with those determined before discharge.Results Forty-eight (49.0%) patients developed HAPE at the altitude of 2800 m to 3000 m. Ninty-five (96.9%) patients were man. Moist rales were audible from the both lungs, and moist rales over the right lung were clearer than those over the left lung in fourteen patients. The white blood cells [(12.83±5.55) versus (8.95±3.23) ×10 9 /L, P=0.001)] as well as neutrophil counts [(11.34±3.81) versus (7.49±2.83)×10 9 /L, P=0.001)] were higher, whereas the counts of other subsets of white blood cells were lower on admission than those after recovery (all P<0.05). Serum levels of alkaline phosphatase (115.8±37.6 versus 85.7±32.4 mmol/L, P=0.020), cholinesterase (7226.2±1631.8 versus 6285.3±1693.3 mmol/L, P=0.040), creatinine (85.2±17.1 versus75.1±12.8 mmol/L, P=0.021), uric acid (401.9±114.2 versus 326.0±154.3 mmol/L, P=0.041), and uric glucose (7.20±1.10 versus 5.51±1.11 mmol/L, P=0.001) were higher, but carbondioxide combining power (CO 2 CP, 26.7±4.4 versus 28.9±4.5 mmol/L, P=0.042) and serous calcium (2.32±0.13 versus 2.41±0.10 mmol/L, P=0.006) were lower on admission. Arterial blood gas results showed hypoxemia and respiratory alkalosis on admission. Conclusions In the present research, men were more susceptible to HAPE than women, and in the process of HAPE, the lesions of the right lung were more serious than those of the left lung. Some indicators of routine blood test and blood biochemistry of HAPE patients changed.

Yang, Ying, Duo-Ji Zha-Xi, Wei Mao, Guang Zhi, Bin Feng, and Yun-Dai Chen. Comparison of echocardiographic parameters between healthy highlanders in Tibet and lowlanders in Beijing. High Alt Med Biol. 19:259-264, 2018.-The hearts of highlanders exhibit distinct features compared with the hearts of lowlanders. However, previous findings have not been verified in a large-scale Tibetan population study. The aim of this study was to present differences in echocardiography results among healthy native Tibetans, acclimatized Han highlanders, and Han lowlanders at sea level. A total of 1820 healthy Tibetans and 224 healthy Han highlanders were drawn from a representative sample of residents in Tibet. Echocardiography was performed on each participant at the sampled local medical centers. Echocardiographic data from 2332 healthy Han lowlanders were obtained from a database of a medical examination center in Beijing. Using propensity score matching to balance differences in demographic features, we evaluated the effects of altitude and ethnicity in three paired comparisons. The results revealed that the great arteries were larger in the Han population than in the Tibetan population regardless of altitude (all p < 0.05). No differences were found in the right atrium between different altitudes and ethnicities. The diameters and thicknesses of the right ventricle (RV) were larger in the Tibetans than in the Han lowlanders (i.e., 30.0 mm (26.0, 34.0) versus 28.6 mm (25.5, 31.8) for the basal right ventricular linear dimension). The left heart in diastole was largest in the Han lowlanders (i.e., 46.3 ± 3.9 mm versus 43.0 mm [40.0, 44.0] in Han highlanders and 45.8 mm [43.0, 48.8] versus 42.0 mm [39.0, 45.0] in Tibetans for the diameter of the left ventricle [LV] at end-diastole). Moreover, the interventricular septum was thicker in the high-altitude population than in the low-altitude population (all p < 0.05). Compared with the Tibetans, the Han highlanders exhibited enhanced ventricular functions (65.0% [60.0, 69.0] versus 68.0% [63.0, 69.0] for LV ejection fraction and 22.0 mm [20.0, 26.0] versus 24.0 mm [21.0, 27.0] for tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion, both p < 0.05). In conclusion, a small left heart and a large RV may be consequences of hypoxic exposure at high altitudes irrespective of ethnic origin.