Lung Diseases Affecting Blood Vessels

• Pulmonary embolism
• Pulmonary Hypertension

The medical name for disease affecting the blood arteries that lead to or from the lungs is pulmonary vascular disease. Shortness of breath is a common symptom of pulmonary vascular disease. Pneumovascular disease (PVD) is defined as any ailment that affects the blood arteries that run between the heart and the lungs. The heart pumps blood to the lungs, then back to the heart. This process continuously replenishes oxygen in the circulation while allowing carbon dioxide to be expelled. The causes of pulmonary vascular disease differ depending on which blood vessels in the lungs are afflicted. Increased pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) in pulmonary embolism, chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), and pulmonary arterial hypertension, and decreased PVR in pulmonary arteriovenous malformations on hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, portal hypertension, or cavopulmonary anastomosis are all caused by diseases of the pulmonary vasculature. All of these disorders are linked to a reduction in arterial PO2 and PCO2. A shift in ventilation and perfusion to high ventilation-perfusion ratios, a mild to moderate rise in perfusion to low ventilation-perfusion ratios, and an increase in physiologic dead space define gas exchange in pulmonary vascular disorders with increased PVR