High-altitude precipitation and exacerbation of protein-losing enteropathyafter a Fontan operation.

We describe the development and exacerbation of protein-losing enteropathy after relocating to an environment at an altitude of 3695 feet in El Paso, Texas, in a patient who had undergone a Fontan operation. This report shoul d heighten awareness to the possibility of such patients developing protein -losing enteropathy at high-altitude, with hypoxemia-induced pulmonary vaso constriction, and subsequent elevation of central venous pressure, the most likely underlying mechanism.