Pulmonary Embolism Support Group

By far the most common form of pulmonary embolism is a thromboembolism, which occurs when a blood clot, generally a venous thrombus, becomes dislodged from its site of formation and embolizes to the arterial blood supply of one of the lungs. Symptoms may include difficulty breathing, pain during breathing, and more rarely circulatory instability and death.

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Altitude and PEs -?

Dchild
Dchild
Hi there,

I was wondering if anyone knows if there's a connection between being at high altitude and having PEs? I'm planning a vacation and want to spend a month in a town that's at 7,000 feet elevation (2120 meters). I have Factor 5 Leiden and had my PE while pregnant. I'm planning on asking my hematologist about it in a couple of weeks at my next appt but was wondering if anyone here knows about it.

Thanks!
TossNTurn
TossNTurn
I don't think there's any causal factor between PEs and altitude. I mean, people get PEs everywhere in the world, not just the Alps.

I do know that altitude can be a bit more of a challenge if you're recently diagnosed. I live in Denver and frequently travel into the mountains and my stamina at 8000 or so feet was not that good for a while after my PEs. I'm good now, though, and have even done some hiking up that high in the middle of winter in sub-freezing temps. Took a little while to get there, but totally worth it.
corvid100
corvid100
There are studies that show that a hypercoaguable state can occur due to high altitudes, which could lead to increased clotting risk. But of course there are many other factors that come into play because like TNT said, many people spend time or live at varying altitudes with no problem.

I'm homozygous( 2 copies) FVL, and traveled and camped at all sorts of altitudes before I was ever aware I had FVL, without any problems. My clotting episode came after a very long drive. Also, obviously since I have two copies, my parent's must have had at least one copy each. They lived at about 5,000 ft for the last 30 years of their life. My mom had two DVTs,( the first one after surgery at age 74, and another at age 83). My dad had a superficial clot, just once in his 70's. So there's a lot of interplay between genes and risk factors.

One thing you can do to help yourself at higher altitudes, is to hydrate, hydrate hydrate! It's also good that you're checking in with your hematologist since he/she can best evaluate your personal risk factors.