The Pathophysiology Of Pulmonary Hypertension

For the student in the early years of medicine, no general topic points out his inadequate knowledge more than does pulmonary physiology and function. At best, any acquaintance with the topic is in knowing a few isolated but ill-understood terms, and this poor background works in a vicious circle to ensure that this state will continue. Part of the reason for his lack of knowledge, no doubt, lies in the fact that much of the available data is supported by diverse and hard to prove theories, and the budding student is soon as confused as are many of his more senior colleagues. When I first thought of the topic of pulmonary hypertension for this paper, I did so because I felt it would enable me to correlate some of the aspects of cardiac and of pulmonary function; however, I must admit that though I had heard the term used on many occasions, I neither understood its full meaning, nor was I aware, to any extent, of its clinical significance.