Abstract / Description: 

The 5th World Symposium on Pulmonary Hypertension classified pulmonary hypertension (PH) into five groups of disorders:

  • Group 1: Pulmonary arterial hypertension
  • Group 2: PH due to left heart disease
  • Group 3: PH due to chronic lung disease and/or hypoxia
  • Group 4: Chronic thromboembolic PH
  • Group 5: PH due to unclear multifactorial mechanisms1

PH is also classified as pre-capillary and post-capillary based on hemodynamic data. The 6th World Symposium on Pulmonary Hypertension, recognizing that there can also be a combination of pre- and post-capillary PH, incorporated pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) into the definition and emphasized the importance of differentiating between idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (pre-capillary) and PH related to heart failure with preserved left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (post-capillary) based on the pulmonary artery wedge pressure and PVR.2

Collection: 
eCardio Hub Collection
Category: 
General CV
Date: 
2020
Author: 
Timothy P. Obarski, DO, FACC