Causes and Treatment of Pulmonary Artery Hypertension

Pulmonary artery hypertension is indicative of high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs that carry oxygen-poor blood from the heart to the lungs. Pulmonary arteries that carry blood from the right side of the heart to the lungs become constricted making the heart pump harder because of higher resistance.

As a result, the amount of blood pumped by the heart to the lungs is reduced. Over a period of time the heart muscles may weaken and lose the ability to pump enough blood for the body’s requirements.

The normal blood pressure in the pulmonary artery, when the person is resting is 14 mmHg In case of pulmonary artery hypertension blood pressure shoots up to more than 25 mmHg. It is a grave situation for which has no cure and requires to be managed.

In pulmonary artery hypertension, the inner walls of the arteries thicken making the arteries narrow. Scar tissue is formed and blood clotting takes place, leading to blockages. The leading cause of death in individuals suffering from this disease is heart failure.

There are a number of causes of pulmonary artery hypertension. Some of them are tissue diseases such as scleroderma, congenial heart diseases, HIV infection, liver diseases, clotting of bloods and also some medications like the diet pill fen-phen. There is also the possibility of genetic predisposition towards pulmonary hypertension.

There are two types of pulmonary artery hypertension. One is primary pulmonary artery hypertension and causes of these are not known. The other is secondary pulmonary artery hypertension. As the word secondary suggests, this condition is caused by another ailment.

After the diagnosis of a disease, you can take help of different types of medications and steps to treat pulmonary artery hypertension. You can use anticoagulants and diuretics to manage pulmonary artery hypertension.

Digoxin therapy and oxygen supplementation can also be used to improve the function of your heart. Conventional oral vasodilator medications such as Epoprostenol IV (Flolan), Treprostinil IV or SQ (Remodulin), Bosentan PO (Tracleer) and other medications to lessen pressure on the pulmonary artery can be used. A single or double lung transplant and atrial septostomy can be employed when the patient does not respond to the above medication.

Apart from the above medications, one also needs to follow a controlled diet and exercise regularly to control and treat pulmonary artery hypertension.