Thursday, November 20, 2008
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PULMONARY HYPERTENSION
Pulmonary Hypertension produces symptoms that can easily be confused with other conditions. Some of the common symptoms include:
-chest pain -low energy -swollen ankles and legs
-breathlessness -dizziness and fainting -bluish lips and skin
Simple activities like walking, dressing oneself, and cleaning can become difficult to perform.
Patients may have PH without knowing for some time before symptoms become noticeable. PH is not contagious; you cannot “get it” from someone else.
Your doctor may ask you to complete a series of tests to better diagnose your illness and to help prescribe the best treatment plan for you. Some of the testing may include:
-Echocardiogram-Echocardiogram is a test that uses sound waves to create a moving picture of the heart. The picture is much more detailed than an x-ray image and involves no radiation exposure.
-Heart catheterization-Heart catheterization is performed by your physician and involves the passage of a catheter into the heart to obtain diagnostic information about the heart.
-Lung scanning-A lung scan is performed to evaluate air distribution and blood flow within the lungs.
-6 minute walk test -Patients are supervised while walking from one end of a hallway to the other at their own pace, attempting to cover as much distance as possible in a 6 minute time frame.
-Sleep study-A sleep study, or Polysomnogram, is an overnight recording of sleep pattern and behaviors associated with sleep. It is performed in a hospital environment and is necessary to determine what stages of sleep an individual achieves and whether any sleep-related abnormalities are present which may effect your treatment.
-Blood work-Various types of blood testing will be needed to assess your individual condition as well as other factors which may contribute to this condition.
There are several treatment options to discuss with your doctor. Some of the drug therapies available are:
-Oral agents such as Revatio and Tracleer which can be taken 2 to 3 times per day.
-Inhaled agents such as Ventavis which is usually used 6 to 9 times a day during waking hours.
-Continuous subcutaneous infusion with Remodulin or continuous intravenous infusion with Flolan.
You and your doctor will discuss which of these therapies or combination of therapies would be best for you.
Some causes of pulmonary hypertension can be reversed with appropriate therapy. Many of the therapies offer patients significant relief of the symptoms of this disease. The goals of treatment for patients with PH include:
-treat the underlying cause.
-reduce symptoms and improve the quality of life.
-increase the output of the heart and reduce the workload of the right ventricle that supplies blood to the lungs.