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Complications
By Mayo Clinic staffPulmonary hypertension can lead to a number of complications, including:
- Right-sided heart failure (cor pulmonale). In cor pulmonale, your heart's right ventricle becomes enlarged and has to pump harder than usual to move blood through narrowed or blocked pulmonary arteries. At first, the heart tries to compensate by thickening its walls and expanding the chamber of the right ventricle to increase the amount of blood it can hold. But this thickening and enlarging works only temporarily, and eventually the right ventricle fails from the extra strain.
- Blood clots. Clots help stop bleeding after you've been injured. But sometimes clots form where they're not needed. A number of small clots or just a few large ones dislodge from these veins and travel to the lungs, leading to a form of pulmonary hypertension that is reversible with time and treatment. Having pulmonary hypertension makes it more likely you'll develop clots in the small arteries in your lungs, which is dangerous if you already have narrowed or blocked blood vessels.
- Arrhythmia. Irregular heartbeats (arrhythmias) from the upper or lower chambers of the heart are complications of pulmonary hypertension. These can lead to palpitations, dizziness or fainting and can be fatal.
- Bleeding. Pulmonary hypertension can lead to bleeding into the lungs and coughing up blood (hemoptysis). This is another potentially fatal complication.
References
- McLaughlin VV, et al. ACCF/AHA 2009 expert consensus document on pulmonary hypertension. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2009;53:1573.
- Pulmonary hypertension. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=11076. Accessed Dec. 16, 2009.
- Pulmonary arterial hypertension. Genetics Home Reference. http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition=pulmonaryarterialhypertension. Accessed Dec. 16, 2009.
- Badesch DB, et al. Diagnosis and assessment of pulmonary hypertension. Journal of American College of Cardiology. 2009;54:S55.
- Austin ED, et al. Genetics and mediators in pulmonary arterial hypertension. Clinical Chest Medicine. 2007;28:43.
- Simonneau G, et al. Updated clinical classification of pulmonary hypertension. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2009;54:S43.
- Badesch DB, et al. Medical therapy for pulmonary arterial hypertension: Updated ACCP evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. Chest. 2007;131:1917.
- Keogh AM, et al. Interventional and surgical modalities of treatment in pulmonary hypertension. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2009;54:S67.
- Letairis (prescribing information). Foster City, Calif.: Gilead Sciences, Inc.; 2009. http://www.letairis.com/downloads/Full_Prescribing_Information_LET2585.pdf. Accessed Dec. 16, 2009.
