Pulmonary Vascular Changes in Heart Disease

Pulmonary hypertension is a common accompaniment of many cardiac and pulmonary disorders, for which the status of the pulmonary vascular bed is oftentimes the principal determinant of the clinical manifestations, course, and feasibility of surgical treatment. The prognosis for patients with pulmonary hypertension varies greatly, depending upon the cause of the pulmonary hypertension and its severity at the time of diagnosis. Although knowledge about the pulmonary circulation has advanced substantially, why one patient behaves differently from another with what appears to be the same degree of pulmonary hypertension remains unclear.