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Pulmonary Hypertension Symptoms
This page was written by Shelley Ensz, and has not been medically edited. Scleroderma (SD) affects everyone differently. Just because something is listed here does not mean an individual patient will ever experience it. See Disclaimer
Symptoms of Pulmonary Hypertension
Initially there may be no symptoms at all. Later, symptoms include shortness of breath, weakness, and fatigue with exertion. As it progresses, patients become very tired after only slight activity. Eventually, patients experience right-sided heart failure and death. However, the course of mild to moderate PH in scleroderma patients is still unknown, and its possible that it may persist unchanged for long periods of time.
Shortness of Breath This worrisome symptom has many acute and chronic causes. Follow this flowchart for more information about the diseases in which shortness of breath occurs. familydoctor.org.
What are common symptoms of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension? Common early symptoms include breathlessness or shortness of breath (particularly on exertion), chronic fatigue, dizziness (especially when walking upstairs or when standing up), fainting, swollen ankles and legs, and chest pain (especially during physical activity). Actelion Pharmaceuticals.
The relationship of dyspnoea to function and quality of life (QoL) in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Interstitial lung disease contributes significantly to the sense of dyspnoea, function and health realted QoL in SSc. Pulmonary hypertension, assessed echocardiographically by the pulmonary artery systolic pressure, predicts the degree of dyspnoea but not function and HRQoL in SSc. M. Baron. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2008;67:644-650. (Also see: Pulmonary Involvement,and Fibrosis )
Pulmonary Functional Abnormalities in Asymptomatic Patients with Systemic Sclerosis. Functional defects, mainly of the restrictive type, were observed in almost half of the asymptomatic patients with SSc. Pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension are also findings in patients without clinical expression. Active detection of pulmonary involvement is recommended for all SSc patients. M. Nicola. AB0190 EULAR 2005. (Also see: Pulmonary Fibrosis)
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