How Long Does A Person Live With Pulmonary Hypertension?

One cannot find out how long they can live after suffering from a particular disease until and unless the patient is familiar with it’s etiology and pathogenesis.

Pulmonary hypertension refers to elevated pulmonary artery pressure, which may result from various causes. When there is elevated right ventricular pressure there are increases in pulmonary artery pressure.

Other causes of increases arterial pressure includes any parenchymal disease of lungs, which increases the resistance to the blood, thromboembolism which increases the pulmonary pressure or left heart failure, which increases the pressure on left atrium which is linked to the pulmonary vein and thus there is indirectly increase in pulmonary artery pressure.

The mortality rates of pulmonary hypertension vary from person to person. If the disease is treated in initial stage there are chances that a person survives for longer time. But mostly the patient of pulmonary hypertension comes with the complaint of right heart failure as due to increasing back pressure on the right ventricle there is hypertrophy of right ventricle, which results in impaired functioning of the heart.

Pulmonary hypertension can be of two types which depend whether pulmonary artery is involved or pulmonary vein is involved. In case of left heart failure, there is an increase in pulmonary venous pressure. The chances of survival depend on the time at which a patient is presenting to a doctor. If there is already left ventricular dysfunction, there is very little chance of survival and on the contrary, if there is only pulmonary hypertension with no decrease in ejection fraction chances of survival are high.

The survival rate depends on the pulmonary function test. In severe cases when there is resting dyspnea there are high chances that patient may lend up into respiratory arrest.

Hence, one cannot decide on the basis of etiology. The deciding factor is a time of presentation and underlying damage which already exists. Mostly if the pulmonary hypertension is associated with right heart failure which is classically called as cor pulmonale there is high chance that a person may die of cardiac arrest. So, the most important factor is the time which decides the prognosis of the disease.

Usually, in cases of embolic disorders like fat embolism or air embolism, there is pulmonary hypertension which is of a mild type so early diagnosis is helpful in treating the disease.

• The most commonly encountered cause is the right heart failure.
• Secondly, the parenchymal disease of lungs which includes interstitial fibrosis of lungs.
• Thirdly, left heart failure which indirectly causes an increase in pulmonary pressure.
• At times embolic diseases which include fat embolism which occurs at the time of fracture.
• Thromboembolic disorders which occur during estrogen therapy most commonly seen in postmenopausal women who are given estrogen for treating osteoporosis.

All these conditions can cause severe hypertension and the chance of mortality varies with different diseases. Along with it hereditary and personal factors which include the age of onset of the disease like for example pulmonary hypertension at the older age can be fatal since along with hypertension there is reduced ejection fraction.

A person suffering from a metabolic syndrome which includes dyslipidemia, hypertension, obesity and impaired sugar balance can increase the chance of death in such patients. Mostly pulmonary hypertension deaths are associated with heart disease and the most common cause of heart disease is a metabolic syndrome. Increase levels of triglycerides, obesity all these causes heart disease which in turn can lead to pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary edema.

So the chance of survival depends on the time of presentation and the level of damage present already. Most cases of pulmonary hypertension are detected when there is resting dyspnea, which signifies that there is detrimental damage to pulmonary function. So, in this case, there is a lot of chance that a person may die due to respiratory arrest. So one cannot decide how long a person will live until and unless the other factors are considered.

Also Read:

• Primary Pulmonary Hypertension: Who Is At Risk, Is It Serious Disease, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment
• Is there a Cure for Pulmonary Hypertension?
• What is Secondary Pulmonary Hypertension Caused By?
• What are the Symptoms of Pulmonary Hypertension?
• What is the Prognosis of Pulmonary Hypertension?
• Pulmonary Hypertension Treatment Guidelines
• How to Treat Pulmonary Hypertension Naturally?
• What Does Pulmonary Hypertension Do To The Heart?
• How Does Left Heart Failure Cause Pulmonary Hypertension?