Pulmonary Hypertension

The type of hypertension which occur in pulmonary arteries and affect the lungs and right side of your heart. It is also known as pulmonary arterial hypertension. In pulmonary hypertension blood vessels, which is present in your lungs become obstructed and damage also.

Symptoms

Signs and symptoms include:

Dizziness
Breathing difficulties
Fatigue
Restlessness
Fainting
Cyanosis
Chest pain

Causes

There are many causes of pulmonary hypertension which include:

Congenital heart defect
Drugs like methamphetamine
Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension
Chronic liver disease like cirrhosis
COPD
Blood vessels malignancy
Metabolic disorder like glycogen storage diseases

Diagnosis

After taking history about signs and symptoms and conducting physical examination your doctor might recommend the following test:

Echocardiogram to check the electric activity of the heart
X-ray of chest to check the images of lungs and heart
Pulmonary function test
ECG to see the electrical rhythm
Cardiac catheterization to check the structure of heart
Pulse oximetry to check the blood oxygen level
To check blood gas concentration
Doppler Ultrasound of lungs
Pulmonary angiogram
Blood test to rule any infectious cause

Treatment

There is only symptomatic treatment is present there is no cure for this condition. Treatment options include:

Vasodilator to relax the blood vessels to decrease the blood pressure like epoprostenol.
Sildenafil also used as vasodilator
Calcium channel blocker also help to dilated the vessels and reduce the blood pressure
Warfarin to reduce the clot formation and thinning the blood
Oxygen therapy to prevent the syncope and dizziness
Digoxin to prevent the arrhythmias
Diuretics to reduce the edema

Lifestyle and home remedies

Following tips will help you:

Avoid smoking
Avoid going on high altitude
Take medicine for blood pressure control
Eat low cholesterol food
Limit salt intake
Eat healthy food
Exercise daily
Get vaccinated to prevent recurrent infections

Pulmonary Hypertension