Altitude Stress During Participation of Medical Congress.
Medical congresses often held in highlands. We reviewed several medical issues associated with altitude stress especially while physicians have participated medical congress held in high altitude. Altitude stress, also known as an acute mountain sickness (AMS), is caused by acute exposure to low oxygen level at high altitude which is defined as elevations at or above 1,200 m and AMS commonly occurs above 2,500 m. Altitude stress with various symptoms including insomnia can also be experienced in airplane. AMS and drunken state share many common features in symptoms, neurologic manifestations and even show multiple microbleeds in corpus callosum and white matter on MRI. Children are more susceptible to altitude stress than adults. Gradual ascent is the best method for the prevention of altitude stress. Adequate nutrition (mainly carbohydrates) and hydration are recommended. Consumption of alcohol can exacerbate the altitude-induced impairments in judgment and the visual senses and promote psychomotor dysfunction. For prevention or treatment of altitude stress, acetazolamide, phosphodiesterase inhibitors, dexamethasone and erythropoietin are helpful. Altitude stress can be experienced relatively often during participation of medical congress. It is necessary to remind the harmful effect of AMS because it can cause serious permanent organ damage even though the symptoms are negligible in most cases.
Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Ulsan, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
Soon Bae
SB
Kim
Department of Neurology, University of Ulsan, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
Jong Sung
JS
Kim
Department of Radiology, College of Medicine, University of Ulsan, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
Sang Jun
SJ
Kim
Department of Radiology, College of Medicine, University of Ulsan, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
Su Hee
SH
Cho
Department of Radiology, College of Medicine, University of Ulsan, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
Dae Chul
DC
Suh
Acute Mountain Sickness; Airplane, Alcohol; Altitude stress