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Tests for pulmonary hypertension

In my previous article, I explained the signs and symptoms that may be due to the condition of your pulmonary hypertension. They are used for the primary diagnosis of this disorder.

Confirmation tests are now required for a more thorough assessment of your disease. These will likely be tests done to rule out the likelihood of related but different disorders. To do this, you will need to undergo a number of these tests.

What are these tests and why should I have them done?

The online pharmacy will help you understand the importance of these tests. Therefore, although in many cases the disease is provisionally diagnosed in patients, it is likely that the following actions will be performed on you.

These general test procedures are as follows:

  • Lung function tests to check your lung condition
  • Blood tests to rule out diseases such as AIDS / HIV, autoimmune diseases and liver diseases.
  • Electrocardiography (ECG) to check abnormalities of cardiopulmonary origin
  • Measurement of arterial blood gases
  • X-rays of the chest, which could be followed by high-resolution computed tomography. The scanner is carried out if interstitial lung disease is suspected. - Ventilation or V / Q scan to rule out chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.
  • A lung tissue biopsy is only indicated if an underlying interstitial lung disease is suspected, otherwise it is not often considered for pulmonary hypertension.
  • It should be noted that with high intrapulmonary blood pressure there is a risk of bleeding with the simplest lung biopsy.

What is the most specific procedure other than the above tests?

For the diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension, you should know that there are always two conditions associated with this problem. These are in particular the pulmonary artery occlusion pressure (PAOP), which must be below 15 mm Hg (2000 Pa), and the pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), which must be above 3 units of wood (240 dyn.). - s

  • cm-5 or 2.4 mN
  • s
  • cm-5). If both of the above conditions occur, you are a patient with pulmonary hypertension. Echocardiography can be used to estimate the pressure of the pulmonary artery, but there is a more accurate assessment using the Ganz swan catheter. In fact, PAOP and PVR cannot be measured directly by echocardiography. Therefore, diagnosis of PAH requires a cardiac catheterization on the right side. This procedure uses a Swan-Ganz catheter that can also measure cardiac output. This is a much more important tool for measuring disease severity than pulmonary arterial pressure.

Since normal pulmonary arterial pressure has an average value of 12-16 mm Hg (1600-2100 Pa) and this also applies to a person at sea level. However, if you suffer from pulmonary hypertension, your average pulmonary arterial pressure will exceed 25 mm Hg (3300 Pa) at rest or 30 mm Hg (4000 Pa) with exercise. Echocardiogram reports often report that mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) generally confused with systolic pulmonary arterial pressure (sPAP). When you receive your echocardiogram report, you should be aware of it. A 40 mm Hg systolic pressure generally implies an average pressure greater than 25 mm Hg, which is approximately mPAP = 0.61

  • sPAP + 2. So don't forget to check these values in your reports.Which tests indicate an improvement in my illness?

The chances of a clinical improvement can be checked with the simple walking test, the so-called "six-minute walking test". If you need to check the stability and improvement of your disease, this measure correlates with better survival. In this test, you have to walk 6 minutes and the distance you have to cover indicates. This is how the relationship between the distance covered during the 6-minute walk test and the exercise capacity determined by your maximum cardiopulmonary exercise test is assessed. The brain's natriuretic peptide (BNP), now known as type B or GC-B natriuretic peptide, is a 32 amino acid polypeptide that is secreted by your heart ventricles in response to excessive expansion of the heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes). It can therefore be used to monitor the progress of patients with pulmonary hypertension.

Although this disease is rare and you do not know it until the symptoms appear with great force, it can still be treated and depends on your will, as is the case with all diseases. Beware of pulmonary hypertension in the online pharmacy.

What is pulmonary hypertension?

Pulmonary hypertension is a relatively rare disease. Only 2-3 million people are diagnosed annually, and about 15 out of a million people are currently living with the disease. Although it is not a large number compared to some chronic diseases, we still recommend that people can recognize the symptoms of pulmonary hypertension.

Because there are many causes, it can be difficult to determine whether you are at risk and without treatment, the average survival is between two and three years. However, if you are diagnosed, there are various treatment options that can help you live a long and fulfilling life.

Although it is best known to cause heart failure, pulmonary hypertension is actually a lung disease that affects the pulmonary arteries from your lungs to the right ventricle of your heart. These arteries constrict, making blood circulation difficult and significantly increasing blood pressure. The high blood pressure causes the right ventricle in your heart to enlarge and weakens over time. Right heart failure occurs when the right side of your heart has become too weak to pump enough blood into the lungs.

Who suffers from symptoms of pulmonary hypertension?

When looking for symptoms of pulmonary hypertension, there are a few things to keep in mind.

First of all, you need to determine who is most susceptible to the disease. Although no age, race, gender, or ethnicity is completely excluded, you as a woman or young adult may be at higher risk. In fact, women are twice as likely to have pulmonary hypertension as men. Some forms are genetically transmitted, so you may also be at high risk if your family has had the disease in the past. If you have previously taken the Fen-Phen dietary drug (a combination of dexfenfluramine and phentermine that was used as an anti-obesity drug in the 1990s), your chances of developing pulmonary hypertension are twenty-three times higher than if you were do not take the medicine.

Pulmonary hypertension can also be caused by a number of other diseases. If you suffer from liver disease, rheumatic disorder, lung disease, thromboembolic disease or heart disease such as aortic valve disease, mitral valve disease or insufficiency, left heart or congenital heart disease, we recommend special care when looking for symptoms. A lack of oxygen due to obesity, sleep apnea or even because you live at high altitude can also lead to pulmonary hypertension.

What symptoms of pulmonary hypertension should you watch out for?

Once you determine that you are at risk, we recommend that you examine the symptoms yourself. They may not be visible until the disease has progressed. It is important to identify them as soon as they occur so that you can see a doctor for diagnosis and treatment. Since the symptoms also progress slowly, you may not be able to recognize them and see a doctor in good time. The first symptom that occurs is usually shortness of breath with little effort, such as B. a brisk walk or a flight of stairs. Over time, tiredness, dizziness, fainting, irregular or fast heartbeat, chest pain, and unproductive cough may occur. As your heart becomes tense, you may notice swelling in your ankles and legs and a shade of blue on your skin, especially around your lips. Symptoms can be very severe in later stages of pulmonary hypertension, making it difficult to perform any type of physical activity. In extreme cases, you may even have difficulty breathing when you lie down. That said, not everyone has all the symptoms. If you think you have pulmonary hypertension, we recommend that you see a doctor immediately, and your doctor will look for a number of additional symptoms of pulmonary hypertension when diagnosed. Aside from his entire family and medical history, he'll look out for abnormal noises in your heart, look for swelling in the carotid artery on your neck, and examine your nail beds for a bluish tinge. He may also do blood tests to analyze the amount of oxygen in your blood and look for symptoms of other conditions that can cause pulmonary hypertension. He can do an X-ray or CT scan of the chest to find blood clots or swelling in your right ventricle. Once he has confidence in his diagnosis, you can discuss medication and other treatment options that will make your life comfortable and healthy.