If You Go Up, You May Fall: A Rare Case of Rapidly Progressing Multifocal High-Altitude Vascular Thrombosis

Abstract

A high-altitude (HA) exposure can lead to hypercoagulability, increasing the risk for major thromboembolic events. The spontaneous vascular thrombosis can be arterial or venous, and may occur after a short or extended stay at higher elevations. Diagnosis is often challenging, and delays in treatment can lead to inevitable and disabling sequelae. With a limited scope of experimental studies and trials to prove HA thrombogenicity, a greater awareness of the diversity of presentations and management is imperative to those engaged in treating such patients. We report a case of rapidly progressing HA vascular thrombosis.