RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Higher pulmonary artery pressure in children than in adults upon fast ascent to high altitude
JF European Respiratory Journal
JO Eur Respir J
FD European Respiratory Society
SP 664
OP 669
DO 10.1183/09031936.00166407
VO 32
IS 3
A1 S. Kriemler
A1 C. Jansen
A1 A. Linka
A1 A. Kessel-Schaefer
A1 M. Zehnder
A1 T. Schürmann
A1 M. Kohler
A1 K. Bloch
A1 H. P. Brunner-La Rocca
YR 2008
UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/32/3/664.abstract
AB The response of pulmonary artery pressure to high altitude has not been studied in children. It is also not known whether the individual response is hereditary. Therefore, the response of pulmonary artery pressure to high altitude was measured in pre-pubertal children in comparison to that in their biological fathers. Echocardiography was performed at 450 m and over 3 days at 3,450 m. Systolic pulmonary artery pressure was estimated from the pressure gradient of tricuspid regurgitation. The increase in pulmonary artery pressure in children was greater than that in adults at day 1 of high altitude (15.5±9.1 versus 7.9±6.4 mmHg), but returned to adult levels on day 2. The increase in pulmonary artery pressure from low to high altitude of each child correlated with that in the father. Pre-pubertal children transiently develop greater pulmonary hypertension than their fathers when exposed to high altitude. The individual response of pulmonary pressure to high altitude seems to be at least partly hereditary.