Susceptibility to high-altitude pulmonary edema is associated with a more uniform distribution of regional specific ventilation
In conclusion, ventilation heterogeneity does not change with short-term hypoxia irrespective of HAPE susceptibility, and lesser rather than greater ventilation heterogeneity is observed in HAPE-susceptible subjects. This suggests that the basis for uneven HPV in HAPE involves vascular phenomena.
NEW & NOTEWORTHY Uneven hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) is thought to incite high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE). We evaluated whether greater heterogeneity of ventilation is also a feature of HAPE-susceptible subjects compared with HAPE-resistant subjects. Contrary to our hypothesis, ventilation heterogeneity was less in HAPE-susceptible subjects and unaffected by hypoxia, suggesting a vascular basis for uneven HPV.
Source: Journal of Applied Physiology - Category: Physiology Authors: Patz, M. D., Sa, R. C., Darquenne, C., Elliott, A. R., Asadi, A. K., Theilmann, R. J., Dubowitz, D. J., Swenson, E. R., Prisk, G. K., Hopkins, S. R. Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research