Ch. Welsh et al., OPERATION EVEREST-II - SPIROMETRIC AND RADIOGRAPHIC CHANGES IN ACCLIMATIZED HUMANS AT SIMULATED HIGH-ALTITUDES, The American review of respiratory disease, 147(5), 1993, pp. 1239-1244
We report spirometry and radiographic data on eight normal male human
subjects during prolonged graded altitude exposure to as high as 8,848
m above sea level in a hypobaric chamber. We found a significant and
progressive drop in FVC by 14 +/- 3% over 40 days, which resolved slow
ly during the first 48 h after descent. With altitude, midrange forced
expiratory flow (FEF25-75) increased by 82 +/- 3%, probably because o
f reduced air density. FEV1, however, did not change. Chest radiograph
s on subjects taken 2 h after descent to sea level showed a pattern of
pulmonary artery enlargement and interstitial edema. These data sugge
st that increased pulmonary blood volume and edema may be causes of th
e restricted pulmonary function pattern.