New drugs scale high-altitude pulmonary edema: novel therapies for prevention and treatment include inhaled [beta]-agonists, sildenafil, and dexamethasone.(Pulmonary Medicine)

Publication: Internal Medicine News

Publication Date: 01-OCT-05

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COPYRIGHT 2005 International Medical News Group

SNOWMASS, COLO. -- Physicians have recently gained a brace of new pharmacologic options for preventing and treating high-altitude pulmonary edema, Peter Hackett, M.D., said at the annual meeting of the Wilderness Medical Society.

The novel therapies targeting this potentially lethal form of altitude sickness include sildenafil (Viagra for erectile dysfunction, Revatio for pulmonary arterial hypertension) and other phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors; inhaled [beta]-agonists; and dexamethasone.

In addition, acetazolamide (Diamox)--used empirically for more than 3 decades to prevent high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) in individuals with a history of HAPE--is, as a result of recent studies, "finally getting the respect it deserves" as an evidence-based prophylactic agent, said Dr. Hackett, director of emergency services at...

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