high altitude pulmonary edema
Findings
No curated finding names high altitude pulmonary edema yet. Everything below is reference data from Mondo, HPO and GenCC, not evidence about what affects it.
Definition
A rare pulmonary condition characterized by non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema occurring in otherwise healthy individuals within days of an ascent above 2500-3000 m. Early symptoms include exertional dyspnea, non-productive cough, chest tightness, and reduced exercise performance, followed by dyspnea at rest and possibly orthopnea, as well as gurgling in the chest and pink frothy sputum in advanced cases. Clinical signs are cyanosis, tachypnea, tachycardia, crackles or wheezing, and elevated body temperature (generally not exceeding 38.5°C). Signs of concomitant high-altitude cerebral edema may also be observed. Chest x-rays typically show patchy opacities predominantly in the right middle lobe.
Definition from the Mondo Disease Ontology (MONDO:0031257), read 2026-09-29. CC BY 4.0.
Features
21 features
What the disease is reported to present with, and how often among people who have it — never how often a feature means the disease. HPO, annotations 2026-09-02.
- HypoxemiaHPOHP:0012418
- Obligate (100% of cases)
- Pulmonary edemaHPOHP:0100598
- Obligate (100% of cases)
- DyspneaHPOHP:0002094
- Very frequent (80% to 99% of cases)
- AnorexiaHPOHP:0002039
- Frequent (30% to 79% of cases)
- CoughHPOHP:0012735
- Frequent (30% to 79% of cases)
- CracklesHPOHP:0030830
- Frequent (30% to 79% of cases)
- CyanosisHPOHP:0000961
Show the remaining 9
- Sleep disturbanceHPOHP:0002360
- Frequent (30% to 79% of cases)
- TachycardiaHPOHP:0001649
- Frequent (30% to 79% of cases)
- Abnormal sputumHPOHP:0032016
- Occasional (5% to 29% of cases)
- Chest painHPOHP:0100749
- Occasional (5% to 29% of cases)
- FeverHPOHP:0001945
- Occasional (5% to 29% of cases)
- OrthopneaHPOHP:0012764
- Occasional (5% to 29% of cases)
Where it sits
- A kind of