Acute pulmonary edema of altitude. Clinical and physiologic observations

,tAx sometimes fatal illness characterized by pulmonary edema occasionally idevelops in apparently healthy mountaineers climbing at high altitudes.1 This condition has received renewed attention lately because of its pos-sible relation to an illness occurring in some natives of high altitude who develop acute pulmonary edema upon returning from brief sojourns to sea level.2 The pathogenesis and mechanism of these forms of "acute pulmo-nary edema of altitude " are unclear.1-6 In the past, either the victims died in high moun-tain regions before help arrived or the avail-able medical facilities were not suitable for accurate physiologic measurements. We re-cently had the opportunity to observe in detail two physicians who developed this syn-drome while skiing at high altitudes. The results of these investigations form the basis of this report