Pulmonary Vascular Disease

Pulmonary vessels carry blood for gas exchange; bronchial vessels nourish the lung tissue

A memory aid for the two separate blood supplies of the lung.

A rule out test only, applied after a clinical probability score

A memory aid for when a D-dimer is useful and when it is not.

Uneven hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction overperfuses some capillaries

A memory aid for the mechanism of high altitude pulmonary oedema.

Pulmonary arterioles constrict in hypoxia, diverting blood to better ventilated alveoli

A memory aid for the pulmonary vascular response to alveolar hypoxia.

An indirect measure of left atrial pressure, obtained by occluding a pulmonary artery branch

A memory aid for what the wedge pressure measures.

Low pressure, low resistance, high compliance, and it constricts in hypoxia

A memory aid for how the pulmonary circulation differs from the systemic.

Score first, then D-dimer or CT pulmonary angiogram

A memory aid for the Wells score and the PE diagnostic pathway.

Increased dead space, hypoxaemia from mismatch, and right ventricular strain

A memory aid for the physiological consequences of pulmonary embolism.

Five groups, defined by the cause rather than the pressure

A memory aid for the five groups of pulmonary hypertension.

Alveolar pressure dominates at the apex, arterial pressure at the base

A memory aid for the three zones of pulmonary blood flow.