Pulmonary Edema — Hypoxia and Overperfusion

The report in this issue describing four subjects who had acute pulmonary edema after exertion at high altitude and who had congenital absence of the right pulmonary artery is intriguing, not just because it describes a medical curiosity but because of its wider implications. Approximately 5000 people have unilateral pneumonectomies annually in the United States, many for solitary lesions in otherwise normal lungs. Surely, one may expect that some of them travel to high altitude and that at least a few exercise there. Are they at high risk for acute pulmonary edema at high altitude? A study of this population . . .