Mechanical ventilation relieves sublingual microcirculation and improves right heart function in patients with high altitude pulmonary edema

Objective To explore the effect of mechanical ventilation on sublingual microcirculation and right heart function in patients with high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE). Methods Thirty HAPE patients were randomly divided into HAPE group(conventional treatment) with 14 cases and MV group (mechanical ventilation treatment) with 16 cases, 20 healthy volunteers who did not develop HAPE were randomly selected as the control group. We performed tests including the total of perfused vessel density (TVD), perfused vessel density (PVD), proportion of perfused vessels (PPV) and microcirculation flow index (MFI), left and right diameter of right atrium, anteroposterior diameter of right ventricle, internal diameter of main pulmonary artery, pulmonary artery systolic pressure, blood gas analysis in HAPE group before-after treatment, after healing and in control group. At the same time, the lung rales, lung shadow disappearance time, and clinical cure time were observed in the MV group and HAPE group. Results Compared with