Research Paper On Pulmonary Hypertension

Pulmonary Hypertension is a condition that complicates virtually every level of patient care; from basic prehospital care to tertiary care in a hospital. Perhaps reason it remains as such a nuisance to health care providers is the fact that it is has a very gradual progression from chronic ailment to serious health problem sometimes taking a long time to develop more serious health problems. Pulmonary Hypertension in the most basic and literal sense is defined as increased blood pressure (hypertension=High pressure) in the vasculature of the pulmonary vessels (Pulmonary=Of or relating to the lungs). It can be caused by a number of complications including heart valve failure, pulmonary emboli, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, hematologic disorders, as well as being idiopathic in some cases. Though the …show more content…
The blood is moved through the pulmonary capillaries and alveoli where it exchanges the CO2 with fresh O2 and then moves out of the lungs via pulmonary veins and moves out of the other chambers of the heart and to the body and once again completes the cycle. It stands to reason that due to the short distance of a trip through the pulmonary system pressure in the lungs would be less than arterial pressure. So imagine if you will that the pathways in the lungs were narrowed and the pressure increased. The right ventricle (which is responsible for moving blood into the lungs) would have an increase in work and become hypertrophic. While sometimes ventricular hypertrophy is the result of athletic endeavor and allows for more contractility; hypertrophy in pulmonary hypertension will eventually lead to a weakened ventricle and failure of the ventricle. This leads the list of complications seen in pulmonary hypertension. Other complications include clotting in the lungs, heart failure due to increased resistance on the pulmonary vascular system and thus blood backing up into either region of the heart. Arrhythmias