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The WHO Classification of Pulmonary Hypertension
As we all know, pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a severe, rare lung disease which develops as a result of various causes. The cause of the disease will ultimately affect the symptoms, treatment, and prognosis for each patient.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defined a classification for PH diagnosis in 1973, based on the cause of the disease. This has seen multiple revisions over the years. The goal is to optimize processes such as physician’s records (including how the information is stored) as well as monitor research into developing a cure for the disease.
In 1973, pulmonary hypertension was classified into only two groups. These were “primary pulmonary hypertension” if the cause of the disease was known and “secondary pulmonary hypertension” if the cause could not be identified. Secondary pulmonary hypertension also was called “idiopathic pulmonary hypertension.”
Now the classification has been expanded to five groups, to emphasize the importance of the underlying cause of the disease.
Read more about the WHO classification system here: “Pulmonary Hypertension WHO Classification”
Would you make any changes to the current WHO Classification? Please share your thoughts below.
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