Hipertensión arterial pulmonar secundaria a tromboembolismo crónico como causa de disnea: a propósito de un caso

Pulmonary embolism is a relatively frequent disease and its diagnosis continues to be a serious problem in the daily clinical practice. For its diagnosis, clinical suspicion is usually combined with other imaging tests, such as ventilation/perfusion lung scan, computed tomography (CT) and sometimes angiography. In acute thromboembolism, frequency of pulmonary hypertension is elevated while a much lower percentage develops chronic pulmonary arterial hypertension. We present the case of an 81-year-old woman with a background of arterial hypertension and hypertensive heart disease, who, after an episode of intense fatigue and breathlessness, and carrying out the pertinent complementary tests, was diagnosed of pulmonary hypertension secondary to chronic pulmonary thromboembolism. These patients usually follow a course of progressive deterioration and have a poor short-term prognosis.