[Physiopathological concept of chronic cor pulmonale]

The chronic cor pulmonale is not a disease but a syndrome. The peripheral arterial gasometry is essential for the etiological diagnosis and consequently for treatment, as enabling to differentiate between CCP by alveolar hypoventilation and CCP by alveolar hyperventilation. The distinction is all the more important that with an identical hypoxia, acidosis increases the average pressure of the pulmonary artery and alkalosis decreases it.