Overview

Overview

At the Cleveland Clinic Respiratory Institute, our Pulmonary Hypertension Program is one of the nation's largest and most comprehensive treatment programs for patients with pulmonary hypertension. Our commitment is to provide patients with the best medical advice and to evaluate you in a timely manner with compassion and courtesy.

Patient Care–Patients First

For nearly 20 years, we have been caring for patients with all forms of pulmonary hypertension, including idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH), chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, portopulmonary hypertension and pulmonary hypertension associated with connective tissue diseases.

Our physicians and nurses have special expertise and interest in pulmonary hypertension, and are dedicated to the evaluation and care of patients with pulmonary hypertension. Teams are comprised of pulmonary, cardiologists, critical care physicians, advanced practice nurses, registered nurses and research coordinators. We also collaborate closely with the departments of cardiovascular medicine, cardio-thoracic imaging, cardiothoracic surgery, congenital pulmonary hypertension clinic and lung transplantation as well as specialists in hepatology, liver transplantation, sleep medicine, hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) and rheumatology. As a result, our patients receive the most comprehensive, timely care as well as benefit from cutting-edge research and the best treatment options available for pulmonary hypertension.

As part of our commitment to excellence in patient care, research and education, we bring together local, national and international experts during our Pulmonary Hypertension Symposium. This event provides patients and medical professionals with a unique opportunity to learn about the most recent advancements in the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary hypertension.

View Our Treatment Outcomes

Our Outcomes offer detailed information and data to help patients and their physicians make informed decisions about treatment for a wide-range of respiratory issues.

Health Information

Health Information

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a group of diseases characterized by high pulmonary artery pressures and pulmonary vascular resistance. Pulmonary hypertension can be idiopathic or secondary to an identifiable underlying pulmonary, cardiac or systemic disease.

Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH), previously known as primary pulmonary hypertension, is a progressive disease that affects predominantly young individuals, is more common in females, and traditionally had an average survival rate of two to three years from the time of diagnosis. Thanks to the availability of targeted or advanced therapies for pulmonary hypertension, this survival rate has improved in recent years.

Types of Pulmonary Hypertension

  • PH originating at the pulmonary arteries (i.e., pulmonary arterial hypertension or PAH)
  • PH originating in the heart (i.e., pulmonary venous hypertension or PVH)
  • PH originating from abnormal lung tissue or due to poor oxygenation
  • PH due to clots in the pulmonary arteries (i.e., chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension or CTEPH)
  • PH due to unclear mechanisms

Causes of Pulmonary Hypertension

Pulmonary hypertension is associated with several conditions including:

  • Unknown causes (i.e., idiopathic)
  • Scleroderma, lupus or other inflammatory diseases
  • Heart, lung, liver, kidney and blood diseases
  • Blood clots - this condition is called chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH)

Treatments for Pulmonary Hypertension

At Cleveland Clinic, our patients are on various advanced pulmonary hypertension therapies, such as intravenous epoprostenol (Flolan and Veletri), intravenous, oral and inhaled treprostinil (Remodulin and Tyvaso), oral bosentan, macitentan, and ambrisentan (Tracleer, Opsumit and Letairis), oral sildenafil and tadalafil (Revatio and Adcirca), selexipeg( Uptravi), or riociquat(Adempas). Many patients are on combination therapy.

The treatment of choice for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is a complex surgery called pulmonary thromboendarterectomy, which can potentially cure this disease. Cleveland Clinic is one of the few centers in the country with expertise in this procedure.

More Information from our Health Library

Learn more about symptoms, causes, diagnostic tests and treatments for pulmonary hypertension and other pulmonary vascular diseases in our Health Library.

Doctors

Doctors

Appointments & Locations

Appointments & Locations

Make an Appointment

To make an appointment with a Cleveland Clinic pulmonary hypertension specialist, call 216.445.9955.

Locations

Research & Clinical Trials

Research & Clinical Trials

Clinical trials (or research studies) help us create the medicine of tomorrow. They provide hope through offering testing of new drugs, new surgical techniques or other treatments before they are widely available.

We can help you access hundreds of clinical trials across all specialty areas. Our new searchable online trials tool makes identifying treatment opportunities easier than ever.

For Medical Professionals

For Medical Professionals

Education

We offer elective, two-to-four-week rotations that include clinical or research experience for residents, pulmonary fellows, cardiology fellows and community physicians, who want to learn more about pulmonary hypertension, as well as pulmonary hypertension experiences for allied health professionals. For more information, visit the Center for Advanced Skills Training.

Consult QD

Find helpful posts from Cleveland Clinic's site for physicians and healthcare professionals. Discover the latest pulmonary hypertension research insights, innovations, treatment trends and more:

References

Disease Management Project

Cleveland Clinic publishes an online medical reference, the Disease Management Project, which provides nationally-established treatment guidelines for the most common diseases and conditions.
View an overview of treatment guidelines for:

Recommended Readings

View helpful publications written by Cleveland Clinic Respiratory Institute physicians on the topic of pulmonary hypertension.

Podcasts

Resources

Resources

Find additional information on the following helpful websites.

Pulmonary Hypertension

Medications

Nutrition