Dr. Carmen Mamani Quispe

Dr. Carmen Mamani Quispe is a consultant pulmonologist at Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de Sucre — the main university teaching hospital serving Bolivia's judicial and constitutional capital city, located at 2,810 metres above sea level. With 13 years of clinical experience, she is one of Bolivia's most knowledgeable respiratory medicine specialists, with unique expertise in the pulmonary effects of high-altitude physiology.

Bolivia has one of the highest average elevations of any country in the world: La Paz sits at over 3,600 metres, and significant portions of the Bolivian population live above 3,000 metres. This creates a distinctive pulmonary medicine landscape — chronic mountain sickness (CMS, or Monge's disease), altitude-related polycythaemia, altitude-exacerbated COPD, and hypoxic pulmonary hypertension are conditions virtually unique to high-altitude populations. Dr. Mamani Quispe has developed specialist expertise in these conditions, including their recognition, risk stratification, and management.

Bolivia also has one of Latin America's highest tuberculosis burdens, and she coordinates DOTS protocol TB management at the hospital, including complex drug-resistant TB cases referred from regional health centres. She is a member of the Sociedad Boliviana de Neumología y Cirugía de Tórax (SABORAM) and the Asociación Latinoamericana del Tórax (ALAT).

Dr. Mamani Quispe completed her medical degree at the Universidad de San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca in Sucre — one of Bolivia's most historic universities and the principal medical school of the Sucre region. She undertook her pulmonology residency at Hospital Universitario and obtained specialist certification from SABORAM. She completed training in high-altitude medicine at the Instituto Boliviano de Biología de Altura (IBBA) in La Paz and holds a Diploma in High-Altitude Medicine. She has undertaken observership training in advanced bronchoscopy in Chile.

Dr. Mamani Quispe's clinical practice spans several interconnected areas of respiratory medicine. In high-altitude medicine, she assesses and manages chronic mountain sickness (Monge's disease), characterised by excessive erythrocytosis (high haematocrit), severe hypoxaemia, and pulmonary hypertension — a condition affecting a significant minority of high-altitude residents. She advises on altitude acclimatisation for travellers to Bolivia's highlands and manages altitude-related pulmonary oedema (HAPE) in the acute setting.

In tuberculosis, she manages both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant (MDR-TB) cases, coordinating with the Bolivian national TB programme and ensuring DOTS protocol adherence. In COPD and asthma, she provides comprehensive management including spirometry, pharmacological optimisation, and non-invasive ventilation for COPD respiratory failure. She performs diagnostic bronchoscopy for investigation of haemoptysis, recurrent infections, and suspected malignancy.

Dr. Mamani Quispe consults in Spanish, Quechua, and English. She serves indigenous Quechua-speaking patients from rural Bolivia — an important population whose first language is often Quechua rather than Spanish. For international visitors to Bolivia's high-altitude regions (including the Salar de Uyuni and Lake Titicaca area) who develop altitude-related illness, her hospital provides acute care. For research visitors and international travellers with respiratory conditions, video consultations in Spanish and English are available.

Dr. Mamani Quispe received the SABORAM Award for Contributions to High-Altitude Pulmonary Research in 2022, recognising her leadership in advancing the understanding and management of chronic mountain sickness in Bolivia's highland populations. She has published peer-reviewed research on chronic mountain sickness pathophysiology in international respiratory journals and collaborates with the Instituto Boliviano de Biología de Altura and international research teams on high-altitude adaptation studies. She is a recognised authority on pulmonary hypertension at high altitude and participates in ALAT continuing medical education activities. She has been an invited speaker at Latin American respiratory medicine conferences and has contributed to WHO-supported tuberculosis programme training in Bolivia.