Hipertensión arterial pulmonar en adultos con cardiopatía congénita

Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a chronic, persistent elevation in pulmonary artery pressure without evidence of left heart failure. Pulmonary hypertension is common in patients with adult congenital heart disease and is usually the result of an increase of pulmonary blood flow through a large left to right shunt. This condition is progressive and patients are symptomatic and usually die between the third and fifth decades of life. To date, there is no standardized treatment for this condition and a general policy of non-intervention to avoid destabilization of the balanced physiology is recommended. Intravenous prostanoids have been shown to have an effect but they are invasive and associated with major side effects. Lung and combined heart and lung transplantation might be a therapeutic option for selected patients. However, donor shortage is a major issue. Oral advanced therapies have been recently shown to improve haemodynamics and survival in idiopathic pulmonary hypertension or in pulmonary hypertension related to scleroderma and may have a role in patients with pulmonary hypertension secondary to congenital heart disease.