Pulmonary Hypertension

 

Pulmonary Hypertension Definition:

 Certain lung disorders diminish the capacity of the lungs to function full steam and pulmonary hypertension is just one of them. Pulmonary Hypertension, or PHT, subjects the artery carrying blood to the lungs to high pressure due to thickened walls. This also makes the heart work harder, and if the pressure is high enough, the heart can't manage to send the right volumes of blood to circulate to pick up oxygen. The results are tiredness, dizziness and short of breath.

 

If any pre-existing disease triggers Pulmonary Hypertension, it’s called secondary PHT.

 

Pulmonary Hypertension Explanation:

The pulmonary artery carries deoxygenated blood from the heart’s right ventricle to the lungs, where the blood picks up oxygen and flows to the left ventricle and then to the rest of the body through the aorta. Primary pulmonary hypertension makes the blood pressure in the pulmonary artery rise far above the normal level, which is about 14 mm Hg at rest. As for the PPH patients, the average blood pressure in the pulmonary artery crosses the 25 mm Hg barrier at rest and 30 mm Hg during exercise; it also affects the capillaries that form a network around individual alveoli, resulting in an increased resistance to the blood flow inside the capillaries. This increased resistance strains the right ventricle, which, under this condition, works harder than usual to pump enough blood through the lungs.

 

Pulmonary Hypertension Causes:

The causes of Pulmonary Hypertension can be one or many including certain psychoactive drugs, chemicals and virus like appetite suppressants, cocaine and HIV are found to trigger the constriction, or narrowing of the pulmonary artery. Other heart and lung disorders and congenital heart diseases also have equal contribution to this disease..

 

 

Pulmonary Hypertension Symptoms:

 

    1. Difficulty in breathing, dizziness and fainting.

    2. Dry Cough. Fatigue or tiredness.

    3. Swelling in the ankles or legs.

    4. Discoloration of the lips and skin, chest pain, loss of energy due to poor supply of oxygen

    5. Enlargement of the terminal body areas.

 

Pulmonary Hypertension Diagnosis:

To find out whether the symptoms are typically that of PHT or because of an individual being simply out-of-shape, a right heart cardiac catheterization is performed.  The procedure involves inserting a thin, flexible tube or catheter through an artery or vein in the patient's arm, leg or neck and then into the right ventricle and pulmonary artery. The process measures the pressure in the pulmonary artery and helps the doctor to decide upon the appropriate medical therapy

 

Pulmonary Hypertension Treatment:

 PHT, being a disorder with a slow progression rate and with hard-to-notice symptoms, makes detection a difficult process, but significant advances in PHT therapy have markedly affected the survival rate. However, doctors usually choose from a variety of drugs to lower blood pressure in the lungs and improve heart performance, which are determined during cardiac catheterization. The medications for PHT are as follows:

 

  1. Calcium based anti-channel blocking drugs given orally.

  2. Intravenous Prostacyclin, a vasodilator; given when oral calcium channel blockers fail.

  3. Anticoagulants.

  4. Diuretics.

  5. Transplantation (heart-lung or lung), when everything else fails.