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Pulmonary Hypertension (PH)
The pulmonary artery is the large vessel that caries blood
from the heart into the lungs so it can pick up oxygen. Hypertension
is the medical term for an abnormally high blood pressure.
Normal mean pulmonary-artery pressure is approximately 14
mm Hg at rest. In the pulmonary artery hypertension patient,
the mean blood pressure in the pulmonary artery is greater
than 25 mm Hg at rest and 30 mm Hg during exercise. This abnormally
high pressure (pulmonary artery hypertension) is associated
with changes in the small blood vessels in the lungs, resulting
in an increased resistance to blood flowing through the vessels.
Primary Pulmonary Hypertension
Primary, or unexplained, pulmonary hypertension (PPH) is
a rare lung disorder in which the blood pressure in the pulmonary
artery rises far above normal levels for no apparent reason.
The pulmonary artery is the blood vessel carrying oxygen-poor
blood from the right ventricle, one of the pumping chambers
of the heart, to the lungs. In the lungs, the blood picks
up oxygen and then flows to the left side of the heart, where
it is pumped by the left ventricle to the rest of the body
through the aorta. The presence of primary pulmonary hypertension
(PPH) in the normal population is one or two cases per million.
In 1998, 2404 deaths were attributed to Primary Pulmonary
Hypertension (PPH).
Learn about primary pulmonary hypertension
(PPH) causes ...
Secondary Pulmonary Hypertension
Secondary pulmonary hypertension (SPH) means the cause is
known. A common cause of secondary pulmonary hypertension
are emphysema and bronchitis. Other less frequent causes are
the inflammatory or collagen vascular diseases such as scleroderma,
CREST syndrome or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Congenital
heart diseases that cause shunting of extra blood through
the lungs like ventricular and atrial septal defects, chronic
pulmonary thromboembolism (old blood clots in the pulmonary
artery), HIV infection, liver disease and diet drugs like
fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine are also causes of pulmonary
hypertension.
The resistance caused by the hypertension/high pressure in
the blood vessels of the lungs eventually damages the heart's
right ventricle. The right ventricle will change in shape
and size until it can no longer pump. The patient will suffer
heart failure and die.
Recent data indicate that the length of survival of pulmonary
hypertension is continuing to improve, with some patients
able to manage the disorder for 15 to 20 years or longer.
Frequent mis-spellings include pulminary hypertension, pulmanary
hypertension
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