Affiliations: Denver Health and Hospitals, 777 Bannock Street MC#4000, Denver, CO 80204, USA. Tel.: +1 303 436 6822; Fax: +1 303 436 3509; E-mail: edward.maa@ucdenver.edu | [x] Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit, HealthONE Spalding Rehabilitation Hospital, Aurora, CO, USA | [y] Neurobehavioral Disorders Program, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO, USA
Abstract: As increasing numbers of people live, work, and play at high altitudes, awareness of the neurological consequences of hypobaric hypoxic environments becomes paramount. Despite volumes of studies examining the pathophysiology of altitude sickness, the underlying mechanisms of the spectrum of altitude related illnesses is still elusive. High altitude headache, acute mountain sickness, high altitude cerebral edema and other neurological presentations including sleep disturbances and seizures at high altitude are reviewed. As our knowledge advances in the field of altitude physiology, the clinical and research techniques developed may help our understanding of hypoxic brain injury in general.
Keywords: High altitude, hypobaric hypoxia, acute mountain sickness, high altitude headache, high altitude cerebral edema, seizure
