Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Noh, Sang Jae and Ho Lee. Rapidly progressing fatal high-altitude illness in a patient with hyperthyroidism. High Alt Med Biol. 19:288–290, 2018.—High-altitude illness (HAI) refers to a broad spectrum of diseases ranging from acute mountain sickness to high-altitude cerebral and pulmonary edema that are induced by high-altitude hypoxic stress. In this study, we present a case of a rapidly progressing fatal HAI (high-altitude cerebral edema and pulmonary edema) in a patient with hyperthyroidism. The victim is a 20-year-old female being treated for Graves' disease, who died after visiting a high-altitude region for travel. The autopsy examination showed cerebral and pulmonary edema, and right ventricular enlargement. A postmortem thyroid function test revealed thyrotoxic status; thyrotoxicosis may have contributed to the rapid progression of the HAI.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bärtsch

, and Swenson

. (2013). Clinical practice: Acute high-altitude illnesses. N Engl J Med, 368:2294–2302.

Basnyat

, and Murdoch

. (2003). High-altitude illness. Lancet, 361:1967–1974.

De Leo

, Lee

, and Braverman

. (2016). Hyperthyroidism. Lancet, 388:906–918.

Edston

, Druid

, Holmgren

, and Oström

. (2001). Postmortem measurements of thyroid hormones in blood and vitreous humor combined with histology. Am J Forensic Med Pathol, 22:78–83.

Hackett

, and Roach

. (2001). High-altitude illness. N Engl J Med, 345:107–114.

Hackett

, and Roach

. (2004). High altitude cerebral edema. High Alt Med Biol, 5:136–146.

Hall

, Duncan

, and Baillie

. (2011) High altitude pulmonary oedema. J R Army Med Corps, 157:68–72.

Lankford

, and Swenson

. (2014). Dilated hearts at high altitude: Words from on high. High Alt Med Biol, 15:511–519.

Luks

, and Hackett

. (2014). High altitude and common medical conditions. In: High Altitude—Human Adaptation to Hypoxia. Swenson

and Bärtsch

, eds. Springer, New York. pp. 449–477.

10.

Richalet

. (2014). Endocrine function. In: High Altitude—Human Adaptation to Hypoxia. Swenson

and Bärtsch

, eds. Springer, New York. pp. 237–252.

11.

Richalet

, Letournel

, and Souberbielle

. (2010). Effects of high-altitude hypoxia on the hormonal response to hypothalamic factors. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol, 299:R1685–R1692.

12.

Zafren

. (2014). Prevention of high altitude illness. Travel Med Infect Dis, 12:29–39.

Rapidly Progressing Fatal High-Altitude Illness in a Patient with Hyperthyroidism

Abstract

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References