Pulmonary hypertension due to left heart diseases

JL Vachiéry, Y Adir, JA Barberà, H Champion… - Journal of the American …, 2013 - jacc.org
JL Vachiéry, Y Adir, JA Barberà, H Champion, JG Coghlan, V Cottin, T De Marco, N Galiè
Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2013jacc.org
Pulmonary hypertension (PH), a common complication of left heart diseases (LHD),
negatively impacts symptoms, exercise capacity, and outcome. Although the true prevalence
of PH-LHD is unknown, a subset of patients might present significant PH that cannot be
explained by a passive increase in left-sided filling pressures. The term “out-of-proportion”
PH has been used to identify that population without a clear definition, which has been
found less than ideal and created confusion. We propose a change in terminology and a …
Pulmonary hypertension (PH), a common complication of left heart diseases (LHD), negatively impacts symptoms, exercise capacity, and outcome. Although the true prevalence of PH-LHD is unknown, a subset of patients might present significant PH that cannot be explained by a passive increase in left-sided filling pressures. The term “out-of-proportion” PH has been used to identify that population without a clear definition, which has been found less than ideal and created confusion. We propose a change in terminology and a new definition of PH due to LHD. We suggest to abandon “out-of-proportion” PH and to distinguish “isolated post-capillary PH” from “post-capillary PH with a pre-capillary component” on the basis of the pressure difference between diastolic pulmonary artery pressure and pulmonary artery wedge pressure. Although there is no validated treatment for PH-LHD, we provide insights into management and discuss completed and randomized trials in this condition. Finally, we provide recommendations for future clinical trials to establish safety and efficacy of novel compounds to target this area of unmet medical need.
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