Pulmonary Hypertension

Summary

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is high blood pressure in the arteries to your lungs. It is a serious condition. If you have it, the blood vessels that carry blood from your heart to your lungs become hard and narrow. Your heart has to work harder to pump the blood through. Over time, your heart weakens and cannot do its job and you can develop heart failure.

Symptoms of PH include:

• Shortness of breath during routine activity, such as climbing two flights of stairs
• Tiredness
• Chest pain
• A racing heartbeat
• Pain on the upper right side of the abdomen
• Decreased appetite

As PH worsens, you may find it hard to do any physical activities.

There are two main kinds of PH. One runs in families or appears for no known reason. The other kind is related to another condition, usually heart or lung disease.

There is no cure for PH. Treatments can control symptoms. They involve treating the heart or lung disease, medicines, oxygen, and sometimes lung transplantation.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Genetics

• Alveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of pulmonary veins: MedlinePlus Genetics National Library of Medicine
• Pulmonary arterial hypertension: MedlinePlus Genetics National Library of Medicine
• Pulmonary veno-occlusive disease: MedlinePlus Genetics National Library of Medicine

Find an Expert

• American Heart Association American Heart Association
• American Lung Association American Lung Association
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Familial Primary Pulmonary Hypertension National Institutes of Health
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Hypertension, Pulmonary National Institutes of Health
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Pulmonary Heart Disease National Institutes of Health

Living With

• Coping When You’re Newly Diagnosed Pulmonary Hypertension Association
• Coping with PH over the Long Term Pulmonary Hypertension Association
• Create an Emergency Kit Pulmonary Hypertension Association
• Diet and Nutrition Pulmonary Hypertension Association
• Exercise and Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) Pulmonary Hypertension Association

Patient Handouts

• Cor pulmonale Medical Encyclopedia
• Lung diffusion testing Medical Encyclopedia
• Pulmonary angiography Medical Encyclopedia
• Pulmonary hypertension Medical Encyclopedia

Diagnosis and Tests

• Heart Tests National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Related Issues

• Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT) and Pulmonary Hypertension Pulmonary Hypertension Association
• HIV and Pulmonary Hypertension Pulmonary Hypertension Association
• Liver Disease and Pulmonary Hypertension Pulmonary Hypertension Association
• Methamphetamine Use and Pulmonary Hypertension Pulmonary Hypertension Association
• Sickle Cell Disease and Pulmonary Hypertension Pulmonary Hypertension Association

Treatments and Therapies

• Lung Transplantation in Patients with Pulmonary Hypertension Pulmonary Hypertension Association

Journal Articles

• Pulmonary Hypertension

Specifics

• Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension American Thoracic Society

Start Here

• Pulmonary Hypertension American Academy of Family Physicians
• Pulmonary Hypertension: High Blood Pressure in the Heart-to-Lung System American Heart Association
• What Is Pulmonary Hypertension? National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Encyclopedia

• Pulmonary veno-occlusive disease Medical Encyclopedia