I was diagnosed with MILD PULMONARY HYPERTENSION...plz help im scared.

[Bosco781]

ok, I took a basketball injury, make a long story short, after the chest xray I got a phone call from the ER saying "your heart looked enlarged" so i go for an ECHO.  It showed something like MILD TRICUSPID REGURGITATION and the pressure was 33mmHg...which my doctor said was high normal, and i was reffered to a pulmonologist where i took a VQ test and everything came back good.  Now i was diagnosed, but every doctor keeps saying "quit smoking, I don't think you have PH, but keep an eye on it"  Why would I be diagnosed?  I read all about this and all i see is people live for 3-5 years?!?!?! im only 25, this is very scary to me.  But to add to my story, about 6 months AFTER the ECHO, i went back into the ER for bronchitis, and when i took a chest xray, my heart was completely normal size, doctor even showed me both pictures together and I seen the difference, could this have been a bad test and a bad diagnosis?  Or do they just diagnose me with PH simply because the numbers were high and he had to?  Is this bad?  Please help!

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

Understand your predicament.
But the angle at which the image was taken, the technician performing or the skill involved could cause mild variations in the images produced. A pressure of 33 mm hg is on the high normal side. When the hemodynamics are increased due to reversible causes like anemia or pregnancy, once the causative has resolved, the circulation will normalize. If you are asymptomatic and the present images and pressures are normal, you may just need regular follow up and no therapy at present.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

[ChesterCookie]

yes, your heart CAN remodel itself.  I don't know about the regurg. though.  I don't know for sure, but perhaps your stress and anxiety are causing your breathing problems?  I know they cause me lots of trouble.  BTW, lots of people, and I mean LOTS, have mild tricuspid regurg.  It really isn't a big deal unless you are symptomatic.  I would take comfort in knowing your heart is back to a regular size and get a grip on your anxiety and see if that helps your breathing.

[Bosco781]

i know thank you, but the very weird part is, i went back to the hospital for a bronchitis check 6 months later, and i mentioned to the doctor about my heart size, and it was normal size again.  i have been stressing myself out all week, i can hardly breathe sometimes, i dont feel like myself,  i just dont want to suffer from this.  Is there a way a heart can go back to normal size and the regurgitation can stop?  or could it have just been a bad read/bad test?

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

The heart can be enlarged due to many causes like cardiomyopathy or cardiac failure. Sometimes it could be due the technique adopted. So, please don't worry. Doctors  treat symptoms, not pressures or images. A normal value for right ventricular systolic pressure is less than 35 mmHg. If you are worried repeat the ECHO to re evaluate the pressures.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

[ChesterCookie]

I had a high pressure based on my echo too, a reading of 38.  The gold standard to diagnose the disease is a right heart catheterization.  If they didn't do this to you, then they can't say you have pulmonary hypertension.  And 33, is, as you say "high, normal"

[Bosco781]

can someone reply?  pref. a professional?