Silent and serious lung disease: if diagnosed early, you may even need a heart transplant

Increases pressure in the blood vessels in the lungs.

According to the doctor, pulmonary hypertension is a condition in which there is an increase in pressure in the right side of the heart, as well as in the blood vessels of the lungs. The disease affects a large number of people, but few suffer from high blood pressure rather than normal.

Connective tissue diseases, HIV, sometimes genetic or even undiagnosed diseases in the pulmonary blood vessels increase pressure and patients begin to experience shortness of breath. About 2.4 out of every million people have the disease. There are just over 200 such patients in Lithuania.

“The problem is that the disease has no special symptoms. It usually starts with shortness of breath. Initially it can occur during strenuous exercise and then it can be bothersome with less exercise. Chest pain, palpitations and fatigue can also occur In later and advanced stages of the disease, there may be unexplained origins of fainting or even coughing up blood, “said Hoppenot.

According to the doctor, the disease is insidious because it does not present special and characteristic symptoms. This also determines the complexity of the diagnoses; Often times, a person has to go to the office of more than one specialist to establish the diagnoses.

“Sometimes pulmonary hypertension is misdiagnosed as, for example, asthma or heart failure. At that time, pulmonary arterial hypertension has a specific treatment that can help patients and significantly improve both their quality of life and their survival, ”said the interlocutor.

It usually arrives in advanced stages of the disease.

Patients may be at low, moderate, or high risk of disease based on certain indicators. It is better for patients to get to the beginning of the disease, as treatment can be of great help in this case. Unfortunately, this is rare. Because the disease has no specific symptoms, patients reach an already complex condition when the condition is advanced.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension has been reported to be more common in women. In the past, young women ages 30 to 40 were more likely to get sick. In recent years, according to the doctor, older patients are getting sick and their condition is getting more complicated because they have comorbidities.

The doctor cautions that people with systemic scleroderma should be monitored particularly closely for the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension. So are people with HIV who have had a pulmonary embolism.

“If shortness of breath still persists after anticoagulant treatment, pulmonary hypertension should be suspected when the clots have not dissolved,” Hoppenot said.

Pulmonary hypertension in Lithuania is diagnosed by only 2 specialized centers LSMU Hospital and VUL Santara Clinic. When the disease is diagnosed, it is the doctors who work in these centers who prescribe additional treatment.

“Despite modern treatment, the disease tends to progress and after a while, patients need a maximum treatment with 3 drugs. Eventually, patients are placed on a waiting list for a lung transplant. It is the lung transplant that allows to cure this disease ”, said the interviewee.

Some patients also need a heart transplant due to advanced disease.