Pulmonary Hypertension

Pressure shows no PH now

05/30/2008 08:58PM

Question:

Hi, back in january of this year I was diagnosed with only slight pulmonary hypertension with a pressure of around 40. The dr. said normal pressure was around 25- 30. They wanted me to have another echo done in may, just to check for pressure increase. Well, I just had another one done and this time it showed no pulmonary hypertension, with pressure of only 30 which was great. But my question is- what could have made my pressure go down over the last few month? And should I be worried at all anymore? Im a 43 year old female which get short of breath only when climbing alot of stairs or runnig fast.

Answer:

There is normal variation in the pulmonary arterial pressures. The echo is a screening test, but you do not state why the echo was done in the first place. If you feel that your exercise tolerance is declining, the sure way to assess for PH would be a right heart catheterization.

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Response by:

Namita Sood, MD, FCCP
Assistant Professor
Director, Pulmonary Hypertension Program
Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine
Department of Internal Medicine
College of Medicine
The Ohio State University