This article is not new (it dates back to 2010) but we are publishing it because pulmonary hypertension (PH) and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) are often confused, whereas they are very different conditions with different diagnostic approaches and treatments. Mixing them up can lead to serious diagnostic and therapeutic errors.
Key points:
*Pulmonary hypertension is a haemodynamic condition — an abnormal elevation of pressure in the pulmonary arteries — that can result from many different underlying causes, including left heart disease and lung disease. It is relatively common.
*Pulmonary hypertension is classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) into six clinical groups, each with different underlying mechanisms and treatment implications.
*Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a specific and rare condition, with its own distinct pathological, haemodynamic and therapeutic characteristics. It requires confirmation by right heart catheterisation.
*Doppler echocardiography can estimate the likelihood of pulmonary hypertension but cannot definitively diagnose it, and carries a risk of both false-positive and false-negative results.
*Therapies approved for pulmonary arterial hypertension may actually be harmful in other forms of pulmonary hypertension.
Read more at this link on the ERS website
Citation
Pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary arterial hypertension: a clarification is needed, N. Galiè, M. Palazzini, A. Manes, European Respiratory Journal 2010 36(5): 986-990; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1183/09031936.00038410