Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30843200›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of physiology2019

Recruitment of non-perfused sublingual capillaries increases microcirculatory oxygen extraction capacity throughout ascent to 7126 m.

Matthias Peter Hilty, Tobias Michael Merz, Urs Hefti, Can Ince, Marco Maggiorini, Jacqueline Pichler Hefti

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of physiology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
27citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
3.8field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

27 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 49 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Change in pulmonary artery pressure upon acute exposure to high altitude: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2026
    Pooled it
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  4. Mechanisms underlying end-organ injury in sleep apnoea.The European respiratory journal · 2026
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. The effect of major abdominal surgery on the sublingual microcirculation: an observational study.Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthesie · 2025
    Observational
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  9. Article
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  12. Observational
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.

Matthias Peter HiltyIntensive Care Unit, University Hospital of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-2765-881X
Tobias Michael MerzDepartment of Intensive Care Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-3149-5873
Urs HeftiSwiss Sportclinic, Bern, Switzerland.
Can InceDepartment of Intensive Care, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Marco MaggioriniIntensive Care Unit, University Hospital of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0001-8180-2117
Jacqueline Pichler HeftiDepartment of Pulmonary Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0003-0879-811X
Erasmus MC · NLUniversity of Bern · CHSwiss Federal Institute of Sport Magglingen SFISM · CHUniversity Hospital of Zurich · CH

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

key pointsA physiological response to increase microcirculatory oxygen extraction capacity at high altitude is to recruit capillaries. In the present study, we report that high altitude-induced sublingual capillary recruitment is an intrinsic mechanism of the sublingual microcirculation that is independent of changes in cardiac output, arterial blood pressure or systemic vascular hindrance. Using a topical nitroglycerin challenge to the sublingual microcirculation, we show that high altitude-related capillary recruitment is a functional response of the sublingual microcirculation as opposed to an anatomical response associated with angiogenesis. The concurrent presence of a low capillary density and high microvascular reactivity to topical nitroglycerin at sea level was found to be associated with a failure to reach the summit, whereas the presence of a high baseline capillary density with the ability to further increase maximum recruitable capillary density upon ascent to an extreme altitude was associated with summit success. ABSTRACT: A high altitude (HA) stay is associated with an increase in sublingual capillary total vessel density (TVD), suggesting microvascular recruitment. We hypothesized that microvascular recruitment occurs independent of cardiac output changes, that it relies on haemodynamic changes within the microcirculation as opposed to structural changes and that microcirculatory function is related to individual performance at HA. In 41 healthy subjects, sublingual handheld vital microscopy and echocardiography were performed at sea level (SL), as well as at 6022 m (C2) and 7042 m (C3), during ascent to 7126 m within 21 days. Sublingual topical nitroglycerin was applied to measure microvascular reactivity and maximum recruitable TVD (TVD

Indexed as

AltitudeAdultAnimalsCohort StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiceMicrocirculationMiddle AgedMouth FloorNitroglycerinOxygenVasodilator AgentsNitroglycerinOxygenVasodilator Agentscapillary densityhand-held video microscopyhemodynamic monitoringhypoxiamicrocirculationvascular reactivity

Identifiers

PMID30843200
PMCPMC6826230
OpenAlexW2922239623

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.