UHealth Clinic Coordinates Care for Pulmonary Hypertension
Pulmonary hypertension can be a challenging, life-threatening condition with significant impact on a patient’s health and quality of life. Regular follow-up and modifications to the treatment plan are often needed. In many cases, a patient will be followed by several different doctors, often making it difficult to maintain continuity of care. The UHealth Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic is addressing this problem by coordinating interdisciplinary care for every patient.
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“Depending on the cause of a patient’s pulmonary hypertension, if a cause is even known, the patient could already have two or three specialists,” says Shirin Shafazand, M.D., assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and director of the clinic.
“That is why it’s critically important to bring everyone together to manage the disease in a comprehensive manner.”
Simply put, pulmonary hypertension is high blood pressure in the arteries that supply blood to the lungs. Over time the vessels that supply the lungs constrict and their walls thicken, they transport blood less efficiently, the heart works harder and eventually can’t keep up the pace, and a patient develops heart failure.
When a cause is not known, the disease is referred to as idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension, but that is rare. Pulmonary hypertension has been associated with autoimmune disease (scleroderma, systemic lupus erythromatosis), HIV infection, congenital heart disease, chronic liver disease, chronic lung diseases, and even valvular heart disease.
The interdisciplinary program works closely with UHealth cardiologists who have a special interest in pulmonary hypertension, enabling state-of-the-art testing and rapid diagnosis.
While there is no cure for the condition, Shafazand says early diagnosis and treatment leads to better outcomes.
The UHealth Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic is held every Wednesday at University of Miami Hospital and Clinics. To make an appointment or refer a patient, call Michelle Cesepedes at 305-243-7838.