|
|
|
About Pulmonary Hypertension
Types of Pulmonary Hypertension
Pulmonary hypertension experts divide PH into five groups of conditions based on the many causes of this complicated disease. It is important that patients are diagnosed and treated by physicians who are experts in all components of the disease and can provide a full range of treatment options. As the largest academic pulmonary hypertension program in the state, Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin offers patients comprehensive care plus access to physician specialists in the related conditions that cause PH. Learn more about our exceptional staff, diagnostic capabilities and treatment approaches.
Group 1: Pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH) conditionsGroup 1 conditions are those specifically related to pulmonary hypertension in arteries of the lungs. The group includes pulmonary artery hypertension conditions that are inherited, caused by drugs or toxins (often street drugs or certain weight-loss medications), caused by conditions that affect the veins and small blood vessels in the lungs and those that have no definitive cause. It also includes PH caused by connective tissue diseases, HIV infection, liver disease, congenital heart disease, and sickle cell disease.
Group 2: Conditions that affect the left side of the heartGroup 2 conditions, the most common causes of pulmonary hypertension, are those that affect the left side of the heart. These conditions may include valvular disease, mitral valve disease and long-term high blood pressure. We often coordinate care with the patient’s cardiologist and primary care physician for this group of patients.
Group 3: Conditions associated with lung diseaseGroup 3 conditions are those that relate to lung diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and interstitial lung diseases, which cause scarring of the lung tissue. This group also includes sleep apnea and other sleep-related breathing disorders.
Group 4: Conditions associated with blood clots and related disordersGroup 4 is made up of conditions caused by blood clots in the lungs or by blood clotting disorders. This group includes thromboembolic diseases in which patients who have had blood clots in their veins (most commonly in leg veins) may develop pulmonary hypertension after a number of those clots migrate to the lung blood vessels (pulmonary embolism).
Group 5: Other causes of pulmonary hypertensionGroup 5 includes all causes of pulmonary hypertension not covered in other groups. These conditions include blood disorders, systemic disorders (which involve several organs of the body and include diseases such as sarcoidosis), metabolic disorders (such as thyroid disease and glycogen storage disease) and other conditions, such as kidney disease and tumors.
Date: July 18, 2012 Online Editor(s): Richard Petre |
|
|