Pulmonary hypertension. Clarifying concepts

Abstract

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension is a central syndrome produced by a large number of cardiological, pulmonary, and systemic diseases that affect the lung bed. It is defined by the existence of a pulmonary artery systolic pressure greater than 30 or a mean pressure greater than 25 mmHg. This definition criterion has been maintained for more than 60 years. However, the current classification includes two concepts: a Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) with two groups of disorders in which only pulmonary arterial resistance increases and five groups that are classified as Pulmonary Hypertension (PH): PH Secondary to Pulmonary Veno-occlusive Disease , HP secondary to diseases of the left side of the heart; HP Obliterative diseases and pulmonary hypoxemia; HP Pulmonary thrombus occlusive diseases, and a group of multifactorial HP. The difference is found in how the different diseases affect the pulmonary vascular bed, and how they alter the physiology or behavior of pulmonary resistance, which are the concepts that must be handled when talking about this syndrome and whose structural changes and management we will discuss in a later article.