Primary Pulmonary hypertension

What is Pulmonary Hypertension?

The human body has two major areas of blood vessels that distribute from and return blood to the left and right heart. The portion of the circulation that distributes the blood from the left side of the heart, throughout the body, is referred to as 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. When the doctor or a nurse measures the blood pressure on a person’s arm, it is the systemic blood pressure that is being measured. When these pressures are abnormally high, the person is diagnosed as having high blood pressure or hypertension.

The right ventricle pumps venous blood returning from the body into the arteries of the lungs to receive oxygen. The pressures in the lung arteries (pulmonary arteries) are normally lower than the pressures in the systemic circulation. When pressure in the pulmonary circulation becomes abnormally elevated, it is referred to as pulmonary hypertension.

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