Point-of-Care Ultrasound Diagnosis of Acute High Altitude Illness: A Case Report. 2021

Flavia Wipplinger, and Niels Holthof, and Jasmin Lienert, and Anastasia Budowski, and Monika Brodmann Maeder, and Didier Moens
Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Inselspital Bern University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address: flavia.wipplinger@insel.ch.

With the advent of high-quality portable ultrasound machines, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has gained interest as a promising diagnostic tool for patients with high altitude illness. Although POCUS is used successfully in hospital environments to detect interstitial pulmonary edema and increased intracranial pressure, the relationship between specific sonographic criteria and high altitude illness is still unclear. We report the case of a healthy 32-y-old male who developed acute respiratory distress and neurologic impairment at 4321 m while participating in a high altitude medical research expedition. We discuss the potential of POCUS to diagnose acute high altitude illness by lung ultrasound, optic nerve sheath diameter measurement, and echocardiography. Ultrasound in combination with clinical findings helped us to exclude relevant differential diagnoses, start on-site treatment, and organize an evacuation. We used serial clinical and ultrasound examinations to assess the patient over time. Although its role in high altitude medicine needs further investigation, we believe that POCUS can be a valuable tool to aid clinical decision-making in remote, high altitude environments.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008168 Lung Either of the pair of organs occupying the cavity of the thorax that effect the aeration of the blood. Lungs
D008297 Male Males
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000531 Altitude A vertical distance measured from a known level on the surface of a planet or other celestial body. Altitudes
D000532 Altitude Sickness Multiple symptoms associated with reduced oxygen at high ALTITUDE. Mountain Sickness,Altitude Hypoxia,Altitude Hypoxias,Hypoxia, Altitude,Sickness, Altitude,Sickness, Mountain
D014463 Ultrasonography The visualization of deep structures of the body by recording the reflections or echoes of ultrasonic pulses directed into the tissues. Use of ultrasound for imaging or diagnostic purposes employs frequencies ranging from 1.6 to 10 megahertz. Echography,Echotomography,Echotomography, Computer,Sonography, Medical,Tomography, Ultrasonic,Ultrasonic Diagnosis,Ultrasonic Imaging,Ultrasonographic Imaging,Computer Echotomography,Diagnosis, Ultrasonic,Diagnostic Ultrasound,Ultrasonic Tomography,Ultrasound Imaging,Diagnoses, Ultrasonic,Diagnostic Ultrasounds,Imaging, Ultrasonic,Imaging, Ultrasonographic,Imaging, Ultrasound,Imagings, Ultrasonographic,Imagings, Ultrasound,Medical Sonography,Ultrasonic Diagnoses,Ultrasonographic Imagings,Ultrasound, Diagnostic,Ultrasounds, Diagnostic
D019095 Point-of-Care Systems Laboratory and other services provided to patients at the bedside. These include diagnostic and laboratory testing using automated information entry. Bedside Computing,Point of Care Technology,Bedside Technology,Point-of-Care,Bedside Technologies,Computing, Bedside,Point of Care,Point of Care Systems,Point-of-Care System,Systems, Point-of-Care,Technologies, Bedside,Technology, Bedside

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