Pulmonary Hypertension Treatment

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If you are diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension, your doctor will determine your treatment plan based on the cause of disease, if it is known. There is usually no cure for pulmonary hypertension, but there are ways to keep your symptoms from getting worse. Your doctor will recommend the best management plan for you.

Depending on the cause of your pulmonary hypertension, your doctor may recommend healthy lifestyle changes.

• Heart-healthy eating includes eating less salt, to lower blood pressure or cholesterol if high levels of these contributed to the cause of your pulmonary hypertension. Eating less salt will help control your body fluids and may improve heart function.
• Physical activity that may be supervised through an exercise program such as pulmonary rehabilitation.

Medicines to treat pulmonary hypertension may include:

• Anticoagulation or blood thinners to prevent blood clots in people whose pulmonary hypertension is caused by chronic blood clots in the lungs. These thinners also can help some people who have pulmonary arterial hypertension, heart failure, or other risk factors for blood clots.
• Digitalis or digoxin to control the rate blood is pumped throughout the body.
• Vasodilator therapy to relax blood vessels and lower blood pressure in the pulmonary artery most affected in people who have pulmonary arterial hypertension. This includes calcium channel blockers such as nifedipine and diltiazem, as well as newer groups of medicines called endothelin receptor antagonists and phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors.

Your doctor may recommend a procedure, surgery, or therapy to treat pulmonary hypertension.

• Oxygen therapy if oxygen levels in the blood are too low.
• Balloon atrial septostomy to decrease pressure in the right heart chambers and improve the output of the left heart and oxygenation of the blood. In this procedure, a small hole is made in the wall between the right and left atria to allow blood to flow from the right to the left atrium.
• Balloon pulmonary angioplasty to lower the blood pressure in your pulmonary artery and improve heart function in people who cannot have a pulmonary endarterectomy.
• Pulmonary endarterectomy surgery to remove blood clots from the inside of the blood vessels of the lungs.

Your doctor may recommend medicines or procedures to treat the condition that is causing your pulmonary hypertension.

• Blood pressure medicines such as angiotensin-converting enzymes inhibitors, beta blockers, or calcium channel blockers when left heart disease is the cause
• Blood transfusions or hydroxyurea to treat sickle cell disease
• Heart valve repair
• Iron supplements to increase blood iron levels and improve anemia