Why all pulmonary hypertensive patients need a heart catheter study?

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) constitutes a progressive and limiting disease. This condition requires an accurate diagnostic and right cardiac catheterization (RHC) is considered the gold standard. It is also useful to assess the severity of the hemodynamic impairment and test the vasoreactivity of the pulmonary circulation providing essential information to evaluate the patient prognosis and to guide the clinical care.