Acute Mountain Sickness: Relationship to Brain Volume and Effect of Oral Glycerol Prophylaxis.
Abstract
The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that oral glycerol administration prior to and during exposure to high altitude will decrease the prevalence and severity of AMS. The basis for this hypothesis was that glycerol would create an osmotic gradient between the blood and the cerebral spinal fluid producing a net movement of water out of the CNS, thus attenuating development of cerebral edema. Furthermore, to assess whether AMS was associated with development of cerebral edema, we used MR imaging and post-processing to quantify changes in brain tissue volume, hypothesized to increase due to cerebral edema. MRI studies were performed in subjects at sea level and following a 32-h exposure to an altitude of 4,572 m in a hypobaric chamber. The study found that oral administration of glycerol did not alleviate the symptoms associated with AMS, and that whole brain volume was increased by 2% following the hypobaric exposure. There was no relationship between the AMS prevalence or severity and the magnitude of the brain volume changes.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA345324
Entities
People
- Charles S. Fulco
- Paul B. Rock
- Stephen R. Muza
- Timothy Lyons
Organizations
- United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine