The Challenge

Although there is a paucity of data-driven evidence regarding acute problems in PH, patients with known PH may present to the emergency department (ED) with a variety of acute problems related to this disease:

  • Pulmonary embolism
  • Acute right heart failure
  • Cardiac arrest
  • Catheter-related sepsis
  • Technical problems with intravenous catheters
  • Pedal Edema

In addition, the emergency physician is in a strong position to consider the initial diagnosis in patients with previously undiagnosed pulmonary hypertension as long as there is a high index of suspicion in any patient presenting with breathlessness in the absence of an alternative cause of cardiorespiratory disease.

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