Pulmonary Hypertension

Overview

Mayo Clinic has extensive experience in diagnosing and treating people affected by pulmonary hypertension. Mayo is also a world leader in research on new treatment approaches.

Diagnosis

There are many causes of pulmonary hypertension. A variety of high-tech tools are used to identify this condition, including heart catheterization, echocardiography, CT and MRI. Read more about pulmonary hypertension diagnosis.

Treatment Options

There are two kinds of pulmonary hypertension and the disease and treatments are quite different. If the disease exists by itself and has no underlying cause, it is called pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Treatments for pulmonary hypertension include medications and, in rare instances, lung transplant.

Other forms of pulmonary hypertension are caused by another condition or disease such as emphysema, blood clots to the lung (chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension) or congenital heart disease. Successful treatment of the underlying disease may decrease or cure the pulmonary hypertension. Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension is a type of pulmonary hypertension that is often missed or misdiagnosed. The correct diagnosis of this condition is important because it is very treatable by surgery. Read more about pulmonary hypertension treatment options.

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About Pulmonary Hypertension

Nearly 50 million Americans have high blood pressure (also known as hypertension). It occurs when blood travels through the body's arteries at a pressure too high for good health. A far less common type of high blood pressure affects only the arteries in the lungs. Known as pulmonary hypertension, it is a serious illness that becomes progressively worse and eventually may prove fatal.

Pulmonary hypertension begins when the lungs' tiny arteries narrow or become blocked. This causes increased resistance to blood flow in your lungs, which in turn raises pressure within the pulmonary arteries. As the pressure builds, your heart's right ventricle must work harder to pump blood through the lungs, eventually causing the heart muscle to weaken and sometimes fail completely.

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