Actelion - Diagnosis of PAH

The key to effective management is early diagnosis
The non-specific nature of the symptoms, ie. breathlessness, fatigue, syncope or near syncope, dizziness and peripheral oedema means most patients are already in stages of advanced disease at diagnosis
Diagnosis involves progressively eliminating other conditions and confirming the presence of PAH²⁷
- clinical suspicion of pulmonary hypertension and screening of at risk groups
- detection of pulmonary hypertension by ECG, chest radiograph, Doppler echocardiogram and pulmonary function tests
- identification of clinical class of pulmonary hypertension
- definitive diagnosis of PAH by right heart catheterisation (mPAP > 25 mmHg at rest or > 30 mmHg during exercise)
Severity of disease is established by right heart catheterisation and degree of functional impairment by means of the 6-minute walk test (please click here for guidelines)²⁸