[Clinical significance of changes in plasma renin-angiotensin aldosterone system in patients with high altitude pulmonary edema].

Plasma levels of renin activity, angiotensin II and aldosterone were determined in 16 patients with high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) with radioimmunoassay and compared with those in the controls including 9 patients with high altitude acute response (HAAR) and 14 health subjects. All of them arrived recently in Lhasa, a place with an altitude of 3,658 m. The results showed that the concentration of plasma renin activity, angiotensin II, and aldosterone was significantly increased (P < 0.05-0.001) in patients with HAPE and higher than that in the controls. It is suggested that the increase plays a role in the development of pulmonary edema in patients with HAPE.