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Abstract #19235 Published in IGR 3-1
Intraocular pressure changes and mountaineering: preliminary observations and possible application.
Chatterjee SK; Chakraborty AJournal of the Association of Physicians of India 2001; 49: 248-252
Measurement of intraocular pressure (IOP) has been suggested as an indirect way of assessing intracranial pressure (ICP) because of the anatomical relationship between the brain and the eyeball. Mountain-sickness during high altitude climbing results from am acute rise in ICP. In this preliminary study, the authors observed a gradual increase in IOP with gain in altitude in a group of healthy mountain trekkers. Although the rise in IOP was not steep in most climbers who did not experience any significant symptoms, the rise was steep into two subjects who experienced symptoms of acute mountain sickness with raised IOP. While further work is clearly needed in this field with larger number of subjects, the measurement of IOP appears to be a useful non-invasive screening test in high altitude climbers in order to avert the risk of acute mountain sickness.
Dr S.K. Chatterjee, Calcutta National Medical College, Calcutta, India