TY - JOUR
T1 - Acute and Chronic Altitude-Induced Cognitive Dysfunction in Children and Adolescents
AU - Rimoldi, Stefano F.
AU - Rexhaj, Emrush
AU - Duplain, Hervé
AU - Urben, Sébastien
AU - Billieux, Joël
AU - Allemann, Yves
AU - Romero, Catherine
AU - Ayaviri, Alejandro
AU - Salinas, Carlos
AU - Villena, Mercedes
AU - Scherrer, Urs
AU - Sartori, Claudio
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2016/2/1
Y1 - 2016/2/1
N2 - Objective To assess whether exposure to high altitude induces cognitive dysfunction in young healthy European children and adolescents during acute, short-term exposure to an altitude of 3450 m and in an age-matched European population permanently living at this altitude. Study design We tested executive function (inhibition, shifting, and working memory), memory (verbal, short-term visuospatial, and verbal episodic memory), and speed processing ability in: (1) 48 healthy nonacclimatized European children and adolescents, 24 hours after arrival at high altitude and 3 months after return to low altitude; (2) 21 matched European subjects permanently living at high altitude; and (3) a matched control group tested twice at low altitude. Results Short-term hypoxia significantly impaired all but 2 (visuospatial memory and processing speed) of the neuropsychological abilities that were tested. These impairments were even more severe in the children permanently living at high altitude. Three months after return to low altitude, the neuropsychological performances significantly improved and were comparable with those observed in the control group tested only at low altitude. Conclusions Acute short-term exposure to an altitude at which major tourist destinations are located induces marked executive and memory deficits in healthy children. These deficits are equally marked or more severe in children permanently living at high altitude and are expected to impair their learning abilities.
AB - Objective To assess whether exposure to high altitude induces cognitive dysfunction in young healthy European children and adolescents during acute, short-term exposure to an altitude of 3450 m and in an age-matched European population permanently living at this altitude. Study design We tested executive function (inhibition, shifting, and working memory), memory (verbal, short-term visuospatial, and verbal episodic memory), and speed processing ability in: (1) 48 healthy nonacclimatized European children and adolescents, 24 hours after arrival at high altitude and 3 months after return to low altitude; (2) 21 matched European subjects permanently living at high altitude; and (3) a matched control group tested twice at low altitude. Results Short-term hypoxia significantly impaired all but 2 (visuospatial memory and processing speed) of the neuropsychological abilities that were tested. These impairments were even more severe in the children permanently living at high altitude. Three months after return to low altitude, the neuropsychological performances significantly improved and were comparable with those observed in the control group tested only at low altitude. Conclusions Acute short-term exposure to an altitude at which major tourist destinations are located induces marked executive and memory deficits in healthy children. These deficits are equally marked or more severe in children permanently living at high altitude and are expected to impair their learning abilities.
KW - AMS Acute mountain sickness
KW - Corsi Block Corsi Block Tapping Test
KW - TMT Trail Making Test
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84959256507&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jpeds.2015.10.009
DO - 10.1016/j.jpeds.2015.10.009
M3 - Artículo
C2 - 26541425
AN - SCOPUS:84959256507
SN - 0022-3476
VL - 169
SP - 238
EP - 243
JO - Journal of Pediatrics
JF - Journal of Pediatrics
ER -