High-altitude precipitation and exacerbation of protein-losing enteropathy after a Fontan operation

Cardiol Young. 2001 Mar;11(2):225-8. doi: 10.1017/s1047951101000166.

Abstract

We describe the development and exacerbation of protein-losing enteropathy after relocating to an environment at an altitude of 3695 feet in El Paso, Texas, in a patient who had undergone a Fontan operation. This report should heighten awareness to the possibility of such patients developing protein-losing enteropathy at high-altitude, with hypoxemia-induced pulmonary vasoconstriction, and subsequent elevation of central venous pressure, the most likely underlying mechanism.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Altitude*
  • Central Venous Pressure
  • Child
  • Female
  • Fontan Procedure / adverse effects*
  • Humans
  • Postoperative Complications / etiology
  • Protein-Losing Enteropathies / etiology*