Revised Definition of Pulmonary Hypertension and Approach to Management: A Clinical Primer

The definition of pulmonary hypertension (PH) has changed recently based, in part, on contemporary outcome data and to focus on early disease detection. Now, PH includes patients with mean pulmonary artery pressure >20 mm Hg measured by right heart catheterization. In contrast to the classical era, pulmonary vascular resistance >2.0 Wood units is also used for diagnosis and prognostication. These lowered thresholds aim to identify patients early in the disease course, which is important because delay to diagnosis of PH is common and linked to elevated morbidity and shortened lifespan. This clinical primer highlights key changes in diagnosis and approach to PH management, focusing on concepts that are likely to…

• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Awards: R01HL153502, R01HL163960, R01HL139613-01, R01HL155096