Feasibility of the 6-Minute Walk Test in Healthy Adults at High Altitude on Aconcagua
✍ Scribed by Matthew P. Lazio; Jon D. Van Roo; Sanjeev Malik; D. Mark Courtney; Carlos Pesce
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 2010
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 77 KB
- Volume
- 21
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1080-6032
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
of clinical symptoms, which may include headache, mental confusion, altered mental status, fatigue, anorexia, cyanosis, shortness of breath, palpitation, tinnitus, dizziness, sleep disturbances, and/or dilatation of veins. These various symptoms and polycythemia generally will resolve at lower altitudes.
We report a case of CMS seen in Andahuaylillas, a small village outside of Cusco (3360 m), in the Peruvian Andes. A 55-year-old male farmer presented to our medical clinic during a 2-week project with a local nongovernmental organization (NGO). The patient's symptoms and laboratory data confirmed the diagnosis.
Treatment of CMS in patients living in the Peruvian Andes may be impeded by several obstacles. Currently, relocating to lower altitudes or periodic therapeutic phlebotomy are the mainstays of therapy. These interventions pose a financial burden for the majority of patients and may contribute to poor treatment adherence. However, recent research suggests that the medication, acetazolamide, which is used primarily for the prevention of acute mountain sickness, can be helpful in cases of CMS.
The diagnosis and treatment of CMS is challenging in the remote Peruvian Andes. Education of physicians and other medical providers working in high-altitude regions requires a high index of suspicion for appropriate diagnosis and care.