Clinical and Pathophysiological Features of High-altitude Pulmonary Edema in the Japanese Population: A Review of Studies on High-altitude Pulmonary Edema in Japan

Intern Med. 2024 Sep 1;63(17):2355-2366. doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.2533-23. Epub 2024 Jan 2.

Abstract

High-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) is a life-threatening, noncardiogenic pulmonary edema that occurs in unacclimatized individuals rapidly ascending to high altitudes above 2,500 m above sea level. Until the entity of HAPE was first identified in a case report published in Japan in 1966, the symptoms of severe dyspnea or coma occurring in climbers of the Japan Alps were incorrectly attributed to pneumonia or congestive heart failure. The Shinshu University Hospital serves as the central facility for rescuing and treating patients with HAPE in the region. Over the past 50 years, a series of studies have been conducted at Shinshu University to gain a better understanding of the characteristics of HAPE. This review summarizes the major achievements of these studies, including their clinical features, management, and pathogenesis of HAPE, particularly in the Japanese population.

Keywords: Japan Alps; clinical manifestations; high-altitude pulmonary edema; pathogenesis.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Altitude Sickness* / diagnosis
  • Altitude Sickness* / epidemiology
  • Altitude Sickness* / physiopathology
  • Altitude*
  • East Asian People
  • Humans
  • Hypertension, Pulmonary* / diagnosis
  • Hypertension, Pulmonary* / etiology
  • Hypertension, Pulmonary* / physiopathology
  • Japan / epidemiology
  • Pulmonary Edema / diagnosis
  • Pulmonary Edema / etiology
  • Pulmonary Edema / physiopathology

Supplementary concepts

  • Pulmonary edema of mountaineers