Pulmonary hypertension

Abstract

A review of the clinical-pathological correlations of pulmonary disorders and their effect on the pulmonary vascular bed is presented. The pathological studies include the results of a measurement of the small pulmonary arterial bed by an injection technique. Cases of left ventricular failure due to aortic valve disease or due to coronary heart disease produce reduction in the pulmonary vascular bed with detectable arterial wall thickening. Examples of the groups of cases with congenital pulmonary hypertension or primary pulmonary hypertension are shown. Evidence is presented that cases of pulmonary heart disease due to bronchitis and emphysema have considerable reduction of the pulmonary arterial bed and that this is partly due to disruption and disappearance of small arteries and partly due to thickening of the walls of the remainder. It is suggested that the pulmonary arterial changes result from either elevation of the pulmonary venous pressure (e.g., in left heart failure) or from damage to the capillary bed of the lung (e.g., emphysema). A review of the clinical-pathological correlations of pulmonary disorders and their effect on the pulmonary vascular bed is presented. The pathological studies include the results of a measurement of the small pulmonary arterial bed by an injection technique. Cases of left ventricular failure due to aortic valve disease or due to coronary heart disease produce reduction in the pulmonary vascular bed with detectable arterial wall thickening. Examples of the groups of cases with congenital pulmonary hypertension or primary pulmonary hypertension are shown. Evidence is presented that cases of pulmonary heart disease due to bronchitis and emphysema have considerable reduction of the pulmonary arterial bed and that this is partly due to disruption and disappearance of small arteries and partly due to thickening of the walls of the remainder. It is suggested that the pulmonary arterial changes result from either elevation of the pulmonary venous pressure (e.g., in left heart failure) or from damage to the capillary bed of the lung (e.g., emphysema).