Pulmonary Hypertension

Pulmonary hypertension is a rare and very serious blood vessel disorder of the lung. Primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) — which is pulmonary hypertension that isn't a side effect of (or secondary to) another condition such as emphysema or lupus — strikes only between one and two people per million. PPH has been in the news because some people who have it took weight-loss drugs that were prescribed by doctors in the 1990s.

UCSF Medical Center has a specialized Pulmonary Hypertension Program to provide consultation, diagnosis and treatment of both primary and secondary pulmonary hypertension. The disease often is misdiagnosed.

Managing this illness and its complications, including right heart failure, requires expertise and access to sophisticated treatment such as oral and continuous intravenous medication, and lung transplantation. Treatments for pulmonary hypertension can be highly complex and require intensive ongoing follow-up, all of which are available through our Pulmonary Hypertension Program.

Request an appointment online.

For information or to make an appointment, please call:
Pulmonary Hypertension (415) 353-2873.

See books recommended by the UCSF Heart and Vascular Center.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated August 29, 2007