Chronic hypoxia causes sustained pulmonary vasoconstriction and vascular remodeling leading to development of pulmonary hypertension in high-altitude residents. Although pulmonary hypertension is of mild to moderate degrees in most cases, some high-altitude residents may develop severe pulmonary hypertension. We report a case of a 47-year-old female highlander of Kyrgyz ethnicity who presented with exertional breathlessness and echocardiographic signs of severe pulmonary hypertension, who was diagnosed as having chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first documented case of severe CTEPH in a high-altitude dweller. This case illustrates that causes other than hypoxia may underlie and/or contribute to severe pulmonary hypertension in residents of high altitude.
Keywords: Kyrgyz; chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension; computed tomography; echocardiography, high altitude.