Chronic Pulmonary Hypoxic Ischemic Heart Disease (CHHD)

Chronic pulmonary heart disease usually results in right ventricular hypertrophy (RVH), whereas acute pulmonary heart disease usually results in dilatation. Hypertrophy is an adaptive response to a long-term increase in pressure. Individual muscle cells grow larger (in thickness) and change to drive the increased contractile force required to move the blood against greater resistance. Dilatation is a stretching (in length) of the ventricle in response to acute increased pressure. To be classified as pulmonary heart disease, the cause must originate in the pulmonary circulation system. Two causes are vascular changes as a result of tissue damag), and chronic hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction.