Alterations in Upper Extremity Motor Function in Soldiers during Acute High Altitude Exposure

摘要

Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) is a syndrome of inadequate acclimatization to the diminished concentration of oxygen available at high altitude. In its mild form, it is almost solely a symptomatic illness and physical examination is usually unremarkable. The authors hypothesized that while clinical examination might be insensitive for the detection of quantifiable changes, computerized measures of neurological function could be capable of noninvasively measuring and analyzing decrements in neurological function at high altitude. For this reason, a device was designed and tested called an upper extremity movement analyzer (UEMA) which employs magnetic coil search technology to record movements of a subject's upper extremity. Software programs were developed which analyze the recorded movements of a pen stylus between a common start position and a randomly generated series of target positions on the digitizing tablet. Subjects were first tested at SL and then at 18 hrs and 30 hrs. Clinical assessments, neurological examinations, and environmental symptoms questionnaires (ESQ) were performed serially to compare with UEMA.