Pulmonary Circulation at Sea Level and at High Altitudes

Several aspects of the pulmonary circulation have been studied in healthy adult males living at sea level, and in temporary and permanent residents at an altitude of 4,540 meters (14,900 ft.). In addition, two cases of chronic mountain sickness have been investigated in the high locality. A moderate, but significant degree of pulmonary hypertension has been found in men living at high altitudes, this condition being more accentuated in the permanent than in the temporary residents and most marked in the cases of chronic mountain sickness. The probable pathogenesis of this condition has been discussed from the points of view of the degree of anoxia observed and the values corresponding to the total and pulmonary blood volume and the cardiac output. Submitted on April 27, 1956