Children at High Altitude: Pulmonary and Renal Abnormalities

Changes in pulmonary arteries and renal glomeruli were assessed in children born and resident at high altitude (Leadville, Colorado). The hypoxia appears to arrest normal neonatal decrease of pulmonary arterial smooth muscle in some of these children. No abnormalities were found in pulmonary veins or capillaries. A quantitative study also demonstrated enlargement of renal glomeruli in the hypoxic children after the first month of life, apparently due to a proliferation of normal glomerular elements.