High-altitude cerebral edema (HACE): The Denver/front range experience

High-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) is a potentially fatal metabolic enceph alopathy associated with a time-dependent exposure to the hypobaric hypoxia of altitude. Symptoms commonly are headache, ataxia, and confusion progres sing to stupor and coma. HACE is often preceded by symptoms of acute mounta in sickness and coupled, in its severe form, with high-altitude pulmonary e dema. Although HACE is mostly seen at altitudes above that of the Denver/Fr ont Range visitor-skier locations, we report our observations over a 13-yea r period of skier-visitor HACE patients. It is believed that this is a form of vasogenic edema, and it is responsive to expeditious treatment with a s uccessful outcome.