The assessment of pulmonary hypertension

The goals of evaluating pulmonary hypertension are detection, definition of severity and the nature of the hemodynamic lesion and its consequences, diagnosis of causal or associated conditions, and determination of optimal therapy. These objectives are reliably achieved by a disciplined approach employing multiple diagnostic tools. This chapter outlines the fundamental background and guidelines for assessing pulmonary hypertension, including consideration of several new and less frequently used methods to elucidate the physiologic mechanism. Since early detection and treatment may improve outcome, screening higher risk populations and a diagnostic approach to the milder spectrum of pulmonary hypertension is also addressed.