Introduction
This case is about a 21 year old male trekker who presented with a severe headache and fever on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
Headache is common at altitude and is often a sympton of acute mountain sickness (AMS) or high altitude cerebral oedema (HACE). Many symtpoms of high altitude defined medical problems can be mimicked by conditions unrelated to being at altitude such as infection, dehydration, hypoglycaemia and hypothermia.
In a wilderness setting, it can be difficult to differentiate between varying causes of headache without recourse to investigations. It is therefore crucial for expedition medics to consider all possible differential diagnoses in order to safely and effectively manage participants.
Read the full case here
