What is Pulmonary Hypertension? Symptoms and Treatment

Pulmonary Hypertension is a serious health condition that causes narrowing of the arteries that carry blood from the right side of the heart to the lungs and impairs blood flow. In order for the blood to be oxygenated and distributed to the muscles, organs and other tissues of the body, it must pass through the lungs. However, when the arteries (arteries) between the heart and lungs narrow, the amount of blood flowing through the veins will also decrease, so the heart will have to exert more effort to pump blood to the lungs. This can cause the heart to weaken over time and the blood circulation in the body to deteriorate. In some individuals, this disease can get worse over time and can be life-threatening. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment are of great importance for patients with pulmonary hypertension. You can read the rest of the article to learn more comprehensive answers to the questions of what is pulmonary hypertension and how is its treatment.

What is Pulmonary Hypertension?

Pulmonary hypertension, also known as pulmonary hypertension, affects the right side of the heart and lung arteries negatively. It is one of the types of high blood pressure. In pulmonary hypertension, the blood vessels in the lungs may narrow or become blocked. This disease is caused by high blood pressure in the arteries that carry oxygen-poor blood from the right side of the heart to the lungs. As a result, the walls of the pulmonary arteries thicken and harden. This leads to the artery not being able to dilate enough to allow adequate flow of blood. As a result of this damage to the pulmonary vessels, the blood flow slows down and the blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries rises. As the vessels narrow, the heart has to work harder. This can lead to fatigue and weakening of the heart over time. A weak heart cannot fully provide the body's circulatory metabolism and more serious health problems such as heart failure may occur. Pulmonary hypertension is a rare disease that can affect people of all ages. However, it can be seen more frequently in individuals with other heart and lung diseases. There are multiple types of pulmonary hypertension. These can be listed as follows:

• Group 1: PH due to pulmonary arterial hypertension
• Group 2: PH due to disease on the left side of the heart
• Group 3: Lung diseases connected PH
• Group 4 : PH due to lung occlusions
• Group 5: PH due to other disorders

Symptoms of Pulmonary Hypertension

Pulmonary hypertension is not uncommon in the early stages. It may not cause many symptoms, and even if symptoms are present, they are not serious. However, symptoms may worsen over time and even daily activities may become difficult.

An early sign of pulmonary hypertension can be seen as shortness of breath after daily activities. Examples of these daily activities are walking, climbing stairs, or shopping. You may also feel short of breath while exercising daily. The symptoms of pulmonary hypertension can be listed as follows:

• Feeling shortness of breath without moving
• The color of the skin and lips turning purple (cyanosis)
• Chest pain and feeling of pressure in the chest
• Dizziness
• Loss of appetite
• Fainting
• Fatigue and weakness
• In the upper right region of the abdomen feeling of pain
• Edema in the abdomen, legs and ankles
• Palpitation
• Frequent shortness of breath

Pulmonary hypertension, which can be seen at any age, time of pregnancy develops, it can be dangerous for both mother and baby. Although the symptoms of pulmonary hypertension in infants are similar to those of adults, parents need to be more careful to understand them.

Causes of Pulmonary Hypertension

Cellular changes in the tissues surrounding the pulmonary arteries can cause the arterial walls to harden, thicken or swell. These changes can lead to a decrease and slowdown of the blood flow from the heart to the lungs, which can lead to the development of pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary arterial hypertension is divided into 5 groups according to the causes of occurrence. These reasons can be listed as follows:

1. Group Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) Causes of development:

• Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH): This disease, the cause of which is unknown, is characterized by the development of high blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries.
• Connective tissue diseases: Diseases that affect the structures that hold the tissues in the body together (bones, joints, tendons, cartilage, adipose tissue).
• HIV
• The disease that develops in the liver fish
• Congenital heart diseases
• Sickle cell anemia: A congenital disease characterized by the defect of the hemoglobin in the blood, which is responsible for carrying oxygen, and not fulfilling its function fully.
• Some drugs

PAH can be inherited from family. In some cases, PAH may occur without any reason.
2. Group PH due to left heart diseases Causes of development:

• Mitral or aortic valve diseases
• Chronic hypertension
• Left-sided heart failure

3. Group PH due to lung diseases Causes of development:

• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Pulmonary fibrosis: Damage to the tissues between the air sacs in the lungs, called alveoli
• Sleep apnea

4. Group PH caused by chronic blood clots Causes of development:

• Chronic formation of blood clots in the lung
• Some other coagulation disorders

5. Group Causes of PH Development due to other diseases:

• Polycytemia vera (abnormal increase in the number of cells in the blood) and thrombocythemia (abnormal increase in the number of platelets involved in blood coagulation)
• Systemic such as sarcoidosis and vasculitis diseases
• Thyroid disease
• Metabolic diseases such as glycogen storage disease
• Tumors and kidney diseases that cause compression of the pulmonary arteries

Cause of pulmonary hypertension Regardless, it requires treatment. Treating pulmonary hypertension can prevent the progression of the disease, improve the patient's quality of life and prevent serious complications. Performs a general physical examination of the patient. During a physical examination, he examines the veins in the neck. Swollen neck veins can be a sign of heart failure. He then evaluates the liver size by examining the upper left region of the abdomen. In order to understand whether there is edema in the abdomen and ankles, he performs examinations in those areas. He then takes the patient's medical history and reviews the diseases in his family history. Symptoms of this disease other heart disease Pulmonary hypertension can be difficult to diagnose because it has symptoms similar to those of the common heart disease. Therefore, various tests are requested after the physical examination to make a definitive diagnosis. These tests can be listed as follows:

• X-Ray: By means of chest x-ray, right ventricle (right lower chamber of the heart) and arterial dimensions can be evaluated.
• Computed tomography (CT): Causes pulmonary hypertension in the lung. Chest tomography can be taken to detect possible blood clots.
• Blood tests: The functions of organs, hormone levels and infections can be understood through blood tests.
• Doppler echocardiography: To check how the right ventricle is working Doppler echo, which uses sound waves to measure blood flow through the heart valves. In this way, the doctor can measure systolic blood pressure.
• Right heart catheterization: This test, also known as pulmonary artery catheterization, measures the pressure in the pulmonary arteries. It can also check how much blood the heart pumps per minute.
• Polysomnography (PSG): A type of sleep test, polysomnography can be applied to test whether an individual has sleep apnea.
• Pulmonary ventilation : It is another method that tests whether there is a clot in the lungs.

In addition to these, the doctor may also request an exercise test from the patient. With the exercise test, it is possible to examine how long the patient can exercise and how much oxygen is circulating in his blood during this time. In this way, it can be understood whether pulmonary hypertension is mild or severe.

Pulmonary Hypertension Treatment

In order to treat pulmonary hypertension, it is important to first determine the stage of the disease. Pulmonary hypertension can be classified as follows:

• Class 1: No symptoms are seen at this stage.
• Class 2: No symptoms at rest; however, daily activities may cause shortness of breath in the individual.
• Grade 3: It becomes more difficult to perform daily activities. The individual feels more tired.
• Grade 4: Symptoms are present even at rest. Symptoms become more severe when performing normal activities.

The doctor prepares a treatment plan after determining the stage of the disease. Determine pulmonary hypertension now There is no method to treat the disease; however, there are treatments to stop the progression of the disease and alleviate its symptoms. Pulmonary hypertension treatment methods can be listed as follows:

• Medicine therapy: Calcium channel blockers, which are also used in traditional hypertension treatment, can be prescribed to widen blood vessels.
• Anticoagulants: It can be used to prevent the formation of blood clots.
• Balloon atrial septostomy (BAS): Although this method is generally used for babies with heart defects, it can also be used in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension.

Along with these treatments, a regular diet and lifestyle changes also help to cope with the disease. can facilitate. An individual who says he has pulmonary hypertension can apply to his doctor to learn more about this issue.

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