Pulmonary arterial hypertension in the elderly: Clinical perspectives.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a rare and devastating disease characterized by progressive increases in pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance, which eventually leads to right ventric-ular failure and death. Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) (World Health Organization Group I), a subset of PH, and may be idiopathic in nature or associated with other systemic conditions and is thought to most commonly effect women, the majority of whom are of childbearing age. However, PAH in the elderly population is being increasingly diagnosed creating clinical considerations that had once not been considered.