TY - JOUR N1 - Copyright ©The authors 2024. This version is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Licence 4.0. For commercial reproduction rights and permissions contact permissions@ersnet.org IS - 3 Y1 - 2024/08/29/ AV - public VL - 64 TI - Definition, classification and diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension A1 - Kovacs, Gabor A1 - Bartolome, Sonja A1 - Denton, Christopher P A1 - Gatzoulis, Michael A A1 - Gu, Sue A1 - Khanna, Dinesh A1 - Badesch, David A1 - Montani, David JF - European Respiratory Journal SN - 0903-1936 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1183/13993003.01324-2024 PB - European Respiratory Society (ERS) ID - discovery10197075 N2 - Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a haemodynamic condition characterised by elevation of mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) >20?mmHg, assessed by right heart catheterisation. Pulmonary arterial wedge pressure (PAWP) and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) distinguish pre-capillary PH (PAWP ?15?mmHg, PVR >2?Wood Units (WU)), isolated post-capillary PH (PAWP >15?mmHg, PVR ?2?WU) and combined post- and pre-capillary PH (PAWP >15?mmHg, PVR >2?WU). Exercise PH is a haemodynamic condition describing a normal mPAP at rest with an abnormal increase of mPAP during exercise, defined as a mPAP/cardiac output slope >3?mmHg/L/min between rest and exercise. The core structure of the clinical classification of PH has been retained, including the five major groups. However, some changes are presented herewith, such as the re-introduction of "long-term responders to calcium channel blockers" as a subgroup of idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension, the addition of subgroups in group 2 PH and the differentiation of group 3 PH subgroups based on pulmonary diseases instead of functional abnormalities. Mitomycin-C and carfilzomib have been added to the list of drugs with "definite association" with PAH. For diagnosis of PH, we propose a stepwise approach with the main aim of discerning those patients who need to be referred to a PH centre and who should undergo invasive haemodynamic assessment. In case of high probability of severe pulmonary vascular disease, especially if there are signs of right heart failure, a fast-track referral to a PH centre is recommended at any point during the clinical workup. ER -