By Dr. Zaira Romero López
Head of the Adult Pulmonology Service, UMAE General Hospital, CMN La Raza
One of the pathologies covered by the specialty in Pulmonology is pulmonary hypertension, considered a pathophysiological disorder that involves multiple clinical entities and can be associated with cardiac, pulmonary or systemic diseases.
It is a complex disorder that requires a multidisciplinary approach to diagnose, differentiate the various types and establish the most appropriate treatment for each patient.
It is characterized by being a hemodynamic condition, since it is common for the patient to suffer from progression of the primary disease or associated comorbidities.
In this, there is an increase in the average pressure of the pulmonary artery according to other parameters such as: pulmonary vascular resistance, pulmonary wedge pressure and cardiac output, with which different hemodynamic profiles can be obtained that each of them presents. the various groups of this pathology.
Previously it was considered a rare disease, but today it is known that its incidence and prevalence are increasing and it is estimated that it affects approximately 1% of the world’s population, so it could be deduced that in Mexico 1.2 million patients suffer from it. .
The Pulmonology Service of the High Specialty Medical Unit (UMAE) General Hospital “Dr. Gaudencio González Garza” of the La Raza National Medical Center, has all the necessary resources to resolve clinical scenarios related to pulmonary hypertension, thanks to the medical staff trained to carry out the initial approach and determine which of the pulmonary hypertension groups you are in. the patient.
Also to perform cardiac catheterizations, staging of disease severity and dynamic maintenance adjustment.
This Service also has a Hemodynamics room with specialized human resources, specific beds for these patients and post-procedure surveillance.
One of the main strengths is the availability for treatment at the Mexican Social Security Institute, based on the different pathways that regulate the tone and the expression of genetic factors that culminate in physiological and morphological changes.
Within medical treatment, drugs are used that improve many aspects of the disease, such as some vasodilators that help improve exercise capacity, as well as symptoms and hemodynamic variables.
There are also medications such as prostagladins that are versatile substances, that is, they can be used in different clinical scenarios since they control blood pressure, which allows the vasoreactivity test to be carried out, which is used to determine the benefit of treatment based on medicines that They decrease calcium.