Over the last month I have had some of the absolute sickest Pulmonary hypertension patients I have ever taken care of in the last 9 years.
I am sad to report that neither of the patients survived their disease. One had sarcoid and was noncompliant with treatment (that would be the 140 PA pressures) and the other was completely mismanaged by physicians for over 10 years. Despite having a diagnosis of PH- she never received treatment or referral to our PH clinic. So she arrived with PA pressures higher than her systemic pressures and was to far gone to respond to treatment.
For both these patients- they were given the absolute best our certified PH center has to offer and yet that ugly disease had the last word.
***For those unfamiliar with PAP hemodynamics-
Your pulmonary artery pressures normally should be <25 systolic (15-20 usually). Remember your right heart is the low pressure system so you ideally would never see PA pressures higher than your systemic pressures.
PAP in yellow on our monitors, ABP in red.
