Pulmonary Hypertension Fact Sheet

What Is Pulmonary Hypertension?

Pulmonary hypertension occurs when the pressure in the blood vessels leading from the heart to the lungs is too high. The heart pumps blood from the right ventricle to the lungs to get oxygen. Because the blood does not have to travel very far, the pressure in this side of the heart and in the artery taking blood from the right ventricle to the lungs is normally low—normally much lower than systolic or diastolic blood pressure. When the pressure in this artery gets too high, the arteries in the lungs can narrow and then the blood does not flow as well as it should resulting in less oxygen in the blood.1