Glossary
Terms
P
- Phosphodiesterase inhibitors
- A class of medications used to treat PAH that act as vasodilators
- Pneumonia
- An infection in the lung, typically causing fever, cough, and phlegm
- Polysomnography
- Also known as a sleep test; a test during which various parameters such as oxygenation, breathing, heart rhythm, brain waves, blood pressure are measured while you sleep.
- Prostacyclin
- A group of molecules naturally found in the body with various functions including vasodilation, inhibition of platelet aggregation and smooth muscle proliferation; synthetic prostacyclins are used to treat PAH.
- Prostacyclin analogue
- A synthetic chemical that acts in the same way that natural prostacyclins do.
- Pulmonary arterial pressure
- The blood pressure in your pulmonary arteries
- Pulmonary arteries and veins
- Blood vessels in the lungs that carry blood to (arteries) and away (veins) from the lungs
- Pulmonary embolus
- (pl. = emboli) a blood clot in one or more pulmonary arteries that arises somewhere else in the body and travels to the lungs; usually forms in the deep veins of the legs and travels up to the pulmonary arteries
- Pulmonary function tests (PFTs)
- A series of breathing tests that allow measurement of your lung function, including lung capacity, how fast you can expel air from your lungs, and how well your lungs exchange gases.
- Pulmonary hypertension
- Elevated blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries
- Pulmonary valve
- A valve in the heart that separates the right ventricle from the pulmonary arteries preventing blood from flowing backwards into the right ventricle
- Pulmonologist
- A doctor who is specially trained in diseases of the lungs and breathing