PULMONARY HYPERTENSION

MULINZI SOLOMON

This document provides a comprehensive overview of pulmonary hypertension (PH), beginning with its definition and historical hemodynamic thresholds, noting the proposed shift in the 6th World Symposium on Pulmonary Hypertension. It delves into the epidemiology, highlighting the difficulty in determining prevalence due to disease heterogeneity and underdiagnosis, and lists various risk factors and associated conditions. The pathophysiology section explains the primary mechanism of increased pulmonary vascular resistance, involving vasoconstriction, remodeling, and thrombosis, linked to endothelial dysfunction. Diagnostic advances are discussed, including non-invasive screening tools like echocardiograms and laboratory tests, alongside imaging and pulmonary function tests, with right heart catheterization identified as the gold standard.