Pulmonary Hypertension

Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) is a disorder in which the pressure in the pulmonary artery (the blood vessel that leads from the heart to the lungs) is above normal. The prognosis has improved with recently developed drugs. Some patients also need a lung (or heart and lung) transplant.

The Pulmonary Hypertension Audit will be used to measure the quality of care, activity levels, access rates and patient outcomes of pulmonary hypertension services in centres designated by the National Commissioning Group. Information from the audit will be used by clinicians and commissioners to inform clinical practice, service development and improvement and commissioning activities.

The audit is designed to assess quality of care, activity levels, access rates and patient outcomes. Measures include:

• Pulmonary Function Tests
• Six minute walk (distance in metres)
• Echocardiography - reduction in peak pulmonary artery pressure
• Chest X-Ray - reduction in cardiothoracic ratio
• Quality of Life measures (v Papworth protocol)
• Survival at 6 months and 1 year on prostaglandins and analogues

The NHS Information Centre is working in collaboration with senior clinicians from the specialist centres. The development and implementation of the National Pulmonary Hypertension Audit has been funded by Pulmonary Hypertension Association UK.

Click here for more information.

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