Doctor's Notes on Pulmonary Hypertension
Pulmonary arteries are blood vessels that move blood from the right side of the heart to the lungs where oxygen is received into the blood. If the pressure of blood circulating in the pulmonary arteries (pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary artery hypertension, or pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Many patients with pulmonary hypertension may not have any symptoms. When symptoms of pulmonary hypertension occur they may include shortness of breath, and less commonly cough, fatigue, lethargy, and dizziness. Other symptoms of pulmonary hypertension include low oxygen level (hypoxia), rapid breathing, or leg swelling. As the disease progresses, right-sided heart failure (cor pulmonale) may occur, and symptoms include worsening shortness of breath, fluid retention (edema) with swelling of the legs, or chest pain (angina).
What is the treatment for pulmonary hypertension?
No cure for this disease exists but there are many treatments to improve symptoms and slow disease progression. There are two major categories, medications and surgery, that may be used to treat; the following is a summary of these – some patients use more than one or two treatment plans:
- Medications (with one example)
- Vasodilators – Flolan
- Guanylate cyclase stimulators (lowers lung pressure) – riociguat
- Endothelin receptor antagonists (widens blood vessels) – bosentan
- PDE5 inhibitors (increase blood flow) – sildenafil
- Calcium channel blockers – diltiazem
- Anticoagulants – Warfarin
- Digoxin (stronger heartbeats) - Lanoxin
- Diuretics – furosemide
- Oxygen
- Surgery
- Atrial septostomy
- Lung transplant
- Heart and lung transplant
Your doctors can help determine the best treatment plan for your condition; extensive guidelines are available from the American College of Cardiology.
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What Are 5 Symptoms of Hypertension?
Hypertension (high blood pressure) is often called “the silent killer” because there are often no warning symptoms. Uncommonly, symptoms of severe hypertension may include headaches, blurred or double vision, dizziness, heart palpitations, and facial flushing. Other symptoms of severe hypertension may include nausea, vomiting, lightheadedness/fainting, fatigue, shortness of breath, nosebleeds, and blood spots in the eyes (subconjunctival hemorrhage). -
What Are the Stages of Hypertension?
The four stages of hypertension are elevated blood pressure levels between 120-129/less than 80 (considered to be prehypertension and at higher risk for developing high blood pressure), hypertension stage 1 is 130-139/80-89 mmHg, hypertension stage 2 is 140/90 mmHg or more, and hypertensive crisis is higher than 180/120 or higher. -
What Are the Warning Signs of Hypertension?
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What Is the Main Cause of Hypertension?
Sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, obesity, alcohol abuse, diabetes, high cholesterol, tobacco smoking and stress may all cause high blood pressure. -
What Is the Main Cause of Pulmonary Hypertension?
Pulmonary hypertension, also called pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), is a rare form of abnormally high blood pressure that affects the arteries of the lungs and the right side of the heart. Pulmonary hypertension can be life-threatening if it is left untreated.
REFERENCE:
Kasper, D.L., et al., eds. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 19th Ed. United States: McGraw-Hill Education, 2015.