Pulmonary hypertension

[Little_Girl]

Pulmonary hypertension is a condition in which blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs (the pulmonary arteries) is abnormally high.

Many disorders can cause pulmonary hypertension.
People usually have shortness of breath with even mild exercise and loss of energy, and some people feel light-headed or fatigued with even mild exercise.
Chest x-rays, electrocardiography (ECG), and echocardiography give clues to the diagnosis, but measurement of blood pressure in the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery is needed for confirmation.
Treatment of the cause and use of drugs that improve blood flow through the lungs are helpful.

Blood travels from the right side of the heart through the pulmonary arteries into the small blood vessels of the lungs (the capillaries) where carbon dioxide is removed from the blood and oxygen is added. Normally, the pressure in the pulmonary arteries is low, allowing the right side of the heart to be less muscular than the left side (because relatively little muscle and effort are needed to push the blood through the lungs via the pulmonary arteries). In contrast, the left side of the heart is more muscular because it has to push blood through the entire body against a much higher pressure.
If the pressure of the blood in the pulmonary arteries increases to a sufficiently high level, the condition is called pulmonary hypertension. In pulmonary hypertension, the right side of the heart must work harder to push the blood through the pulmonary arteries. Over time, the right ventricle becomes thickened and enlarged and cor pulmonale develops, resulting in right-sided heart failure.

[Marquetta]

high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs resulting in difficulty pumping blood around the body