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Overview
Pulmonary hypertension, sometimes called PH, is high blood pressure in the blood vessels in the lungs. This is different from what we usually think of as “high blood pressure,” which measures blood pressure in the arteries that carry blood from the heart to the body.
People with PH have narrower blood vessels in their lungs, making it harder for blood to move through the lungs as you inhale and exhale. While there is no cure for pulmonary hypertension, there are several medications that can slow the disease, allowing you to live your life more easily.
UW Health is home to one of just four centers in Wisconsin (and the only one outside of greater Milwaukee) accredited by the Pulmonary Hypertension Association. Accredited PH centers treat a higher volume of patients and are more familiar with potential signs of the disease. They also offer the widest array of treatment options.
Symptoms and diagnosis
Pulmonary hypertension is often misunderstood and can be tricky to diagnose because many of its symptoms, such as shortness of breath, can be mistaken for something else such as asthma, heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Some of the more common symptoms include:
Shortness of breath
Feeling unusually tired
Chest fullness or pain
Fainting, dizziness or light-headedness
Swelling in the ankles, legs or belly
PH can also be associated with another underlying condition, such as congenital heart disease, COPD, sleep apnea, liver disease or lupus.
Moreover, pulmonary hypertension tends to come on gradually. For example, you may have mowed your lawn without a problem last year but now find yourself having to take breaks to catch your breath.
During your visit with an expert PH provider, we will discuss your personal health history, family history and symptoms. Based on what we learn, you may have one or more of the following tests to help determine whether you have PH and, if so, what type.
There are five distinct groups of pulmonary hypertension based on different causes.
Treatments
While there is no cure for pulmonary hypertension, several medications are available to ease your symptoms, improve your quality of life and keep the disease from worsening.
Depending on what type of PH you have, medication(s) will be prescribed to achieve one or more of the following:
Relax the blood vessels
Increase the blood flow
Reduce the risk for blood clots
Remove excess fluid from the body
If medications do not control the symptoms, patients may be treated with surgery or be listed for a lung transplant or heart-lung transplant.
Meet our team
To provide you with the greatest expertise, our team includes a pulmonologist, a cardiologist and a nurse practitioner who specializes in caring for patients with pulmonary hypertension. Our patients also work closely with our nurse navigator and have access to a social worker.
Locations
The pulmonary hypertension clinic is located at University Hospital in Madison.