Pulmonary Hypertension
Medical Author: Siamak Nabili, MD, MPH
Medical Editor: William C. Shiel, Jr., MD, FACP, FACR
What are pulmonary arteries?
The human body has two major sets of blood vessels that distribute blood from
the heart to the body. One set pumps blood from the right heart to the
lungs and
the other from the left heart to the rest of the body.
- The portion of the circulation that
distributes oxygen-rich blood from the left side of the heart, throughout the
body, is referred to as the systemic circulation.
- The blood then returns from
the body to the right side of the heart and passes through the lungs to
replenish oxygen.
- It then returns to the left
side of the heart for another round through the systemic circulation.
- The
portion of the circulation that distributes the blood from the right side of the
heart to the lungs is referred to as the pulmonary (lung) circulation.
- The
pulmonary arteries are the major blood vessels that carry blood from the right
side of the heart to the lungs.
The left ventricle of the heart pumps oxygenated blood
(blood that has been reloaded with oxygen in the lungs) from the lungs into the
systemic circulation. When a doctor or a nurse measures the blood pressure on a
person's arm, he/she is measuring the pressures in the systemic circulation.
When these pressures are abnormally high, the person is diagnosed as having
high
blood pressure
(hypertension).
What is pulmonary hypertension?
The right ventricle pumps blood returning from the body into the pulmonary arteries to
the lungs to receive oxygen. The pressures in the lung arteries (pulmonary
arteries) are normally significantly lower than the pressures in the systemic
circulation. When pressure in the pulmonary circulation becomes abnormally
elevated, it is referred to as pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary artery
hypertension, or PAH.
Pulmonary hypertension generally results from
constriction, or stiffening, of the pulmonary arteries that supply blood to the
lungs. Consequently, it becomes more difficult for the heart to pump blood
forward through the lungs. This stress on the heart leads to enlargement of the right heart and eventually fluid
can build up in the liver and other tissues, such as the in the legs.
Next: What are primary and secondary pulmonary hypertension? »
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