title: Pre-existing cardiovascular conditions and high altitude travel. Consensus statement of the Medical Commission of the Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA MedCom) Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease.
abstract: The number of persons visiting high altitude regions for various purposes (recreation, business etc.), and the age of people who do so, increases. Therefore there are more and more patients who need specific and individual advice to prevent emergency situations at altitude and to deal with emergencies if the safety strategy should fail. Since literature concerning cardiocirculatory diseases at altitude is scarce and studies with a controlled setting and high evidence level are missing, UIAA MedCom has checked all available literature for specific information to enable physicians who are active in travel or high altitude medicine to advise the patients at the highest possible level of evidence. It must be pointed out that there are several other medical fields where such information is mandatory, e.g. in occupational medicine, when employees depart to high altitude destinations for business purposes. The recommendations are based on a detailed literature research (databases, handbooks and the respective references). For easier use the paper has been structured as follows: general information, cardiocirculatory system and ECG at altitude, several cardiocirculatory diseases and their specific recommendations. The commission concludes, that a general "don't go!" is no state-of-the-art advice for the patients. With the information presented here a safe trip to altitude should be possible for many patients.
authors.affiliation: Cardiac Surgery Dept., ASO "Maggiore della Carità" University Hospital, Novara, Italy; Central Medical Commission, Italian Alpine Club, Italy; Medical Commission of the Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA MedCom), Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address: donegani@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Donegani
authors.affiliation: British Mountaineering Council, Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hillebrandt
authors.affiliation: Medical Commission of the Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA MedCom), Bern, Switzerland; Centre for Altitude, Space and Extreme Environment Medicine (CASE), University College London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Windsor
authors.affiliation: Medical Commission of the Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA MedCom), Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Ulf
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Gieseler
authors.affiliation: Medical Commission of the Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA MedCom), Bern, Switzerland; Division of Health Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rodway
authors.affiliation: Medical Commission of the Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA MedCom), Bern, Switzerland; Dept. of Sport Orthopaedics, Klinikum Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany; Dept. of Trauma Surgery, Friedrich Alexander University, Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Schöffl
authors.affiliation: Medical Commission of the Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA MedCom), Bern, Switzerland; Institute of Occupational and Social Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Küpper
mesh_terms: D000064:Acclimatization; D000531:Altitude; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D011314:Preventive Health Services; D012307:Risk Factors; D014195:Travel; D057236:Travel Medicine
keywords: Altitude; Arterial hypertension; Cardiovascular disease; Coronary heart disease; Prevention