L28 Flashcards
what is pulmonary hypertension
Alteration in the structure and function of the pulmonary arteries
Primarily not in other arteries of the body
what does pressure have to rise to in the pulmonary system to be classified as hypertension
> 25mmHg
normal = 15mmHg
what is the prevalence of pulmonary hypertension
15/100 people in 1 million
about 3200 people in australia AND NZ
only 100 people in NZ
describe the symptoms of hypertension
Non-specific symptoms such as breathless, fatigue and chest pain
Symptoms develop gradually, when the disease is very advanced
there are 2 types of PH what are they and what % of the prevalence to they make up
primary pulmonary hypertension = 40%
secondary pulmonary hypertension = 60%
what are the causes of primary and secondary pulmonary hypertension
primary = unknown
secondary = Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD )/ other lung conditions
Mitral valve disease
Sleep apnea
Sickle cell anemia
HIV
what are the underlying causes of secondary pulmonary hypertension
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD )/ other lung conditions
Mitral valve disease
Sleep apnea
Sickle cell anemia
HIV
what form of remodeling do the pulmonary arteries undergo in PH
a combination of arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis
what does thrombosis indicate
role for inflammation
what are the causes of remodelling in PH
Increased pressures - altered shear stresses and inflammation
this causes Endothelial dysfunction and proliferation
it could also be because of disturbed vasodilator/vasoconstrictor balance:
less Nitric oxide and/or Prostacyclin vs. more Endothelin and/or Thromboxane
how does NO cause vasodilation
through cGMP
what does endothelin cause
vasoconstriction by hypertrophy of the smooth muscle cells so they can have a larger contraction vasoconstrict
what are the consequences of PH on the pulmonary system
More difficult to pump the blood into the lungs
Pulmonary Resistance increases theefore increase in Pulmonary Artery Pressure (PAP)
Severe bronchial obstruction
Decreased diffusion capacity for O2
Hypoxemia (decreased partial O2 pressure)
normally the Pulmonary system is a….
Low pressure - low resistance
Receives ~100% of circulating blood
Pulmonary arterial tree
Compliance distributed over entire arterial system
Resistance distributed over entire arterial system
compeer this to the normal systemic system
Systemic arterial tree Compliance located in aorta (80% of total compliance) Resistance distributed over all resistance arteries in the different vascular beds
overall resistance and blood pressures are lower in pulmonary system
however what happens when you increase the resistance
increases in pulmonary resistance result in relative larger increases in blood
pressures (with more disastrous consequences)
Although the pressures in the pulmonary system are lower it makes the increase in resistance much severe therefore has worse concequences