Pulmonary hypertension

Introduction Pulmonary hypertension (PHT) can be associated with a variety of both pulmonary and extrapulmonary diseases. Acute PHT in critical care may often be secondary to conditions such as acute respiratory failure, left heart failure and pulmonary embolism, or due to decompensation of chronic PHT by concurrent pulmonary or cardiovascular disease. Patients with chronic PHT can also be admitted to critical care for the treatment of other conditions, or as part of their perioperative management. Some are admitted because they have benefited from a specific operation to treat the underlying pulmonary condition (lung transplantation, pulmonary endarterectomy).