Abstract
Pulmonary hypertension is a common but complex clinical problem. When suspected in an appropriate clinical setting or detected incidetally, an array of investigative tools are employed with an intent to confirm the diagnosis, define aetiology, evaluate the functional and haemodynamic impairment, define treatment options, monitor the therapy, and establish long-term prognosis. However, no single tool provides comprehensive information that encompasses the aforementioned aims. Therefore, judicious use of these tools is of paramount importance, in order to maximise outcome and cost-effectiveness, while minimising risks and redundancies. Furthermore, a number of promising tools and techniques are emerging rapidly in the arena of pulmonary hypertension. These tools augment our understanding of pathophysiology and natural history of pulmonary hypertension. There is, therefore, increasing need for validating these emerging paradigms in multicentre trials. In this review, we focus on the tools commonly used to evaluate pulmonary arterial hyertension and also define some of the new approaches to pulmonary arterial hypertension.
- Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging
- echocardiography
- pulmonary arterial hypertension
- right heart catheterisation
- right ventricular strain
Footnotes
Provenance
Publication of this peer-reviewed article was supported by Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Switzerland (principal sponsor, European Respiratory Review issue 122).
Support Statement
This work is supported in part by NIH-NHLBI 5R01HL104018 (H.Gupta).
Statement of Interest
H. Gupta has acted as a scientific consultant to Actelion. R. Naeije has received reimbursements for attending symposiums, speaker fees and fees for consulting from Actelion, Pfizer, Bayer Healthcare, United Therapeutics and LungRX, a fee for organising education from Pfizer, funds for research from Actelion and Pfizer, and funds for a member of staff from Pfizer.
- Received September 5, 2011.
- Accepted September 6, 2011.
- ©ERS 2011