ABSTRACT
Visit to high altitude with its hypoxic hypobaric environment poses various physiological and biochemical challenges to a human body. If the body is not able to cope up to this changed environment, it leads to various maladies of high altitude like high altitude cerebral oedema, high altitude pulmonary oedema and spontaneous vascular thrombosis. There are reports of high altitude-induced deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, mesenteric ischemia etc. We report a unique case of high altitude-induced testicular infarct in a previously healthy individual after a brief stay at the high-altitude region Ladakh.
ABSTRACT
Trauma including neurotrauma is one of the major killers in the world. The health infrastructure in developing countries has a huge disparity, with super specialist care confined to big cities only. Adding to this problem is factors like poverty, poor road condition and no organised emergency evacuation system. The utopian scenario where specialist and infrastructure are made available in every village is a distant dream. So at present, the most feasible and cost-effective way to prevent death due to neurotrauma in rural and remote setting is putting the general surgeon working in remote area at the forefront. Our study is an effort in this direction and is reporting operative management of patients with neurotrauma in remote high-altitude Ladakh. So today, the need of hour is continuing skill enhancement training for capacity building of rural surgeon, where they are trained to do burr hole and craniotomy for reducing mortality and morbidity from neurotrauma. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12262-021-03002-x.
ABSTRACT
AIMS: Baseline elevated B-type Natriuretic Peptide (BNP) has been found in high altitude pulmonary edema susceptible population. Exaggerated pulmonary vascular response to hypoxia may be related to endothelial dysfunction in hypoxia susceptible. We hypothesize that baseline BNP levels can predict hypoxia susceptibility in healthy individuals. MAIN METHODS: The pulmonary vascular response to hypoxia was compared in 35 male healthy individuals divided into two groups based on BNP levels (Group 1 ≤ 15 and Group 2 > 15 pg/ml). Acute normobaric hypoxia was administered to both the groups, to confirm hypoxia susceptibility in Group 2. KEY FINDINGS: Unlike Group 1, Group 2 had elevated post hypoxia BNP levels (26 vs 33.5 pg/ml, p = 0.002) while pulmonary artery pressure was comparable. A negative correlation with tissue oxygen consumption (delta pO2) and compartmental fluid shift was seen in Group 1 only. Endothelial dysfunction in Group 2 resulted in reduced vascular compliance leading to elevation of mean blood pressure on acute hypoxia exposure. BNP showed a positive correlation with endothelial dysfunction in Group 2 and has been linked to pre-diabetic disorder (HbA1c 6 ± 0.44%) and may additionally represent a lower cross-sectional area of vascular bed related to vascular remodeling mediated by chronic hypoxia. SIGNIFICANCE: Hypoxia susceptibility in healthy individuals may be related to endothelial dysfunction that limits vascular compliance during hypoxic stress. BNP level showed positive correlation with HbA1c (r = 0.49, p = 0.04) and negative correlation with delta pO2 (r = -0.52, p = 0.04) can predict reduced microvascular compliance due to endothelial dysfunction contributing to hypoxia susceptibility in healthy individuals. BNP levels≤15 pg/ml at sea level is indicative of hypoxia resistance.
