Article

Diagnosis and Treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension

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Keywords

Pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary arterial hypertension, chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, diagnosis, treatment,

Disclosure:The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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DOI:https://doi.org/10.15420/ecr.2012.8.3.213

Copyright Statement:

The copyright in this work belongs to Radcliffe Medical Media. Only articles clearly marked with the CC BY-NC logo are published with the Creative Commons by Attribution Licence. The CC BY-NC option was not available for Radcliffe journals before 1 January 2019. Articles marked ‘Open Access’ but not marked ‘CC BY-NC’ are made freely accessible at the time of publication but are subject to standard copyright law regarding reproduction and distribution. Permission is required for reuse of this content.

Abstract

Pulmonary hypertension is a relatively common finding in patients with left heart disease and lung hypoxic disease. Nonetheless, some types of pulmonary hypertension, such as pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, are rare. Despite the rarity of these diseases their impact on patients' lives and healthcare system is significant because of their poor prognosis. In this review article we describe step-by-step the diagnostic algorithm for all types of pulmonary hypertension, focusing on the early detection of signs and symptoms of the disease. We are also reviewing the current vasodilatory treatments for pulmonary arterial hypertension and the therapeutic options for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

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