High-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) and pneumonia can look almost identical in a sick child: cough, fast breathing and low oxygen. The treatments are very different. HAPE improves quickly with oxygen, while bacterial pneumonia needs antibiotics. We are developing the Frisco Score, a simple clinical scoring tool to help doctors tell the two apart at the bedside. Better diagnosis can reduce unnecessary antibiotics and hospital transfers.

HAPE is often thought of as a climber’s illness, but it also affects children who live at altitude, often when they return home from a trip to lower elevation or during a cold. Drawing on more than 80 pediatric cases, this study describes how HAPE presents in mountain children, who is most at risk and how it can be safely managed, including with oxygen at home.

Uric acid is a waste product that, at high levels, can lead to gout and kidney stones and is linked to metabolic health. We have seen elevated uric acid in a number of teenagers who live at altitude. This study looks at how uric acid relates to body weight, blood pressure, blood counts and other markers of metabolic health in local adolescents.

Children who live at high altitude can face health effects that standard pediatric guidelines do not account for. This three-year program brings together several of our pediatric studies, from newborn oxygen needs and growth to lung illness and blood chemistry. The goal is to give families and clinicians across Colorado’s mountain communities better tools to recognize and manage these effects.

Sleep apnea, including central sleep apnea, is more common at altitude, where lower oxygen levels affect breathing during sleep. CPAP machines are the standard treatment, but many people find them hard to tolerate. This study tests whether low-flow oxygen through a simple nasal cannula can work as an easier, more affordable alternative for people living at altitude.

Many babies born in the mountains need extra oxygen in their first days or weeks of life. This study looks at which newborns need supplemental oxygen at altitude, for how long, and how families can be best supported in caring for them at home.

Low oxygen raises the pressure in the blood vessels of the lungs, which plays a central role in HAPE. This study uses echocardiography (heart ultrasound) to measure how the heart and lung circulation respond to low oxygen at altitude. The results may help identify children and adults at higher risk of altitude-related lung illness.