Paediatric pulmonary vascular disease.

Abstract

Pulmonary vascular disease comprises any congenital or acquired pathology of the intrinsic pulmonary vessels with the unique feature of pulmonary arteries carrying unsaturated blood and pulmonary veins carrying oxygenated blood. Pulmonary hypertension (PH) ensues when pulmonary vascular disease affects at least 50% of the capillary resistance vessels, i.e. pulmonary pre-acinar and intra-acinar arteries (so-called pre-capillary PH), or when pressure in the pulmonary venous system distal to the capillaries rises above a mean of 15 mmHg (so-called post-capillary PH). PH is defined by a mean pulmonary arterial pressure above 25 mmHg at rest. Vasoconstriction, remodelling and thrombosis of small pulmonary arteries lead to an increase in pulmonary vascular resistance. The consequence is failure of the afterload-intolerant right ventricle. In this review, pulmonary vascular disease in children will be addressed according to the 2003 World Health Organisation (Venice) classification of PH.