Pulmonary hypertension is a pathophysiological state of abnormally high pulmonary artery pressure caused by a variety of known or unknown causes, and can often lead to death from right heart failure in the terminal phase of the disease. It can be either a stand-alone disease or a complication of other diseases.
Pulmonary hypertension can involve a wide range of clinical conditions and has the ability to complicate most cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. The clinical criteria for the diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension are defined as a mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) ≥ 25 mmHg measured by right heart catheterisation (RHC) at sea level, at rest.