• R Dembinski.
• Abteilung für Operative Intensivmedizin, Universitätsklinikum, RWTH, Aachen. rolf.dembinski@post.rwth-aachen.de
• Anaesthesist. 2006 Feb 1;55(2):195-212; quiz 213-4.

AbstractPulmonary hypertension can arise in the presence of acute cardiopulmonary decompensation or develop as a chronic and progressive disease in association with connective tissue diseases, infectious diseases, or metabolic diseases, or in the form of idiopathic pulmonary hypertension. Impaired regulation of endogenous vasoactive mediators, growth factors, and thrombotic factors leads to pulmonary artery vasoconstriction, endothelial and epithelial proliferation, and thrombotic vascular obstruction, with resulting right heart failure. There is no curative treatment for chronic pulmonary hypertension, and the immediate objective of palliative treatment is to relieve right heart stress by reducing pulmonary arterial pressure with the aid of pulmonary vasodilators. Depending on the severity of the illness, perioperative mortality is high, which must be borne in mind by both anesthetists and intensivists. Chronic medical treatment for these patients must be optimized before any surgery is undertaken. In the perioperative period, it is essential that anything that could lead to worsening of pulmonary hypertension is avoided, or at least recognized and treated at an early stage. Intraoperatively, imminent acute right heart decompensation is treated by improving right-ventricular contractility and reducing right-ventricular afterload. In the postoperative period, monitoring and optimization of the cardiopulmonary status, adequate analgesia and sedation, and careful anticoagulation must be ensured.

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