Objective To analyze characteristics of high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) in Chinese patients.Methods We performed a retrospective study of 98 patients with HAPE. We reviewed the medical records and summarized the clinical, laboratory and imaging characteristics of these cases, and compared the results on admission with those determined before discharge.Results Forty-eight (49.0%) patients developed HAPE at the altitude of 2800 m to 3000 m. Ninty-five (96.9%) patients were man. Moist rales were audible from the both lungs, and moist rales over the right lung were clearer than those over the left lung in fourteen patients. The white blood cells [(12.83±5.55) versus (8.95±3.23) ×10 ⁹/L, P=0.001)] as well as neutrophil counts [(11.34±3.81) versus (7.49±2.83)×10 ⁹/L, P=0.001)] were higher, whereas the counts of other subsets of white blood cells were lower on admission than those after recovery (all P<0.05). Serum levels of alkaline phosphatase (115.8±37.6 versus 85.7±32.4 mmol/L, P=0.020), cholinesterase (7226.2±1631.8 versus 6285.3±1693.3 mmol/L, P=0.040), creatinine (85.2±17.1 versus75.1±12.8 mmol/L, P=0.021), uric acid (401.9±114.2 versus 326.0±154.3 mmol/L, P=0.041), and uric glucose (7.20±1.10 versus 5.51±1.11 mmol/L, P=0.001) were higher, but carbondioxide combining power (CO₂CP, 26.7±4.4 versus 28.9±4.5 mmol/L, P=0.042) and serous calcium (2.32±0.13 versus 2.41±0.10 mmol/L, P=0.006) were lower on admission. Arterial blood gas results showed hypoxemia and respiratory alkalosis on admission. Conclusions In the present research, men were more susceptible to HAPE than women, and in the process of HAPE, the lesions of the right lung were more serious than those of the left lung. Some indicators of routine blood test and blood biochemistry of HAPE patients changed.

Key words: high altitude pulmonary edema, clinical feature, laboratory feature