title: A global view of pulmonary hypertension.
abstract: Pulmonary hypertension is a substantial global health issue. All age groups are affected with rapidly growing importance in elderly people, particularly in countries with ageing populations. Present estimates suggest a pulmonary hypertension prevalence of about 1% of the global population, which increases up to 10% in individuals aged more than 65 years. In almost all parts of the world, left-sided heart and lung diseases have become the most frequent causes of pulmonary hypertension. About 80% of affected patients live in developing countries, where pulmonary hypertension is frequently associated with congenital heart disease and various infectious disorders, including schistosomiasis, HIV, and rheumatic heart disease. These forms of pulmonary hypertension occur predominantly in those younger than 65 years. Independently of the underlying disease, the development of pulmonary hypertension is associated with clinical deterioration and a substantially increased mortality risk. Global research efforts are needed to establish preventive strategies and treatments for the various types of pulmonary hypertension.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany; German Centre for Lung Research, Hannover, Germany. Electronic address: hoeper.marius@mh-hannover.de.
authors.forename: Marius M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Hoeper
authors.affiliation: Service de Pneumologie, Hôpital Bicêtre (Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris), Inserm UMR-S 999, Université Paris Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Humbert
authors.affiliation: Pulmonary Department, Heart Institute, University of São Paolo Medical School, São Paolo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rogerio
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Prince Sultan Medical Military City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Majdy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Idrees
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medicine and Epidemiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Steven M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kawut
authors.affiliation: Hatter Institute for Cardiovascular Research in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; Soweto Cardiovascular Research Unit, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sliwa-Hahnle
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Cardiovascular Disease, FuWai Hospital, National Centre for Cardiovascular Disease, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Cheng
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: J Simon R
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Gibbs
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000075902:Clinical Deterioration; D003906:Developing Countries; D014943:Global Health / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*