Absent Pulmonary Artery Presenting as High-Altitude Pulmonary Edema

A 22-year-old male with no known past medical history presented to our emergency department complaining of difficulty breathing. A plain film chest radiograph revealed findings consistent with a tension pneumothorax. However, due to physical examination findings inconsistent with the imaging report, a computed tomography of the chest was ordered which revealed an absent right pulmonary artery.The patient was ultimately treated for high altitude pulmonary edema and discharged on nifedipine and supplementary oxygen.