Pulmonary Hypertension: What’s New in Diagnosis and Treatment?

Pulmonary Hypertension: What’s New in Diagnosis and Treatment?

Pulmonary hypertension (abnormally elevated pulmonary artery pressure; PH) is often identified during investigation of shortness of breath. Most often it is a result of underlying cardiac and chronic respiratory diseases. Diagnostic criteria for PH have changed recently, with a lower mean pulmonary artery pressure of 20mmHg now used to define PH. Although most commonly due to left heart disease, sometimes it is due to chronic pulmonary arterial disease (WHO Group 1 PH), for which targeted pulmonary vasodilators are efficacious. A systematic diagnostic approach is needed to determine the underlying diagnosis, leading to the optimal treatment, often in partnership with an expert PH centre.

Modern Medicine – Issue 1, 2025