Las arteria pulmonares distales en los habitantes de las alturas.

Abstract

The study of the pulmonary arteries in man. and animals that live at high altitude, have shown several morphologic changes, like muscularization of the pulmonary arterioles as well as intimal proliferation of smooth muscle cells of the distal arteries. These changes are related to vasoconstriction as a response to hypoxia and the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension that, in some cases, are associated with right ventricular hipertrophy and congestive cardiac failure as in the subacute high altitude disease, described in the Himalaya and the Andes in man and certain animals species. A possible loss of the vasoconstrictive response by genetic transmission to chronic hypoxia have been observed as aclimatization or adaptation to high altitude.