Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic

The St. Paul Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic (SPPHC), a clinical collaboration of St. Paul Lung Clinic and St. Paul Heart Clinic, is the first of its kind in the Twin Cities to offer pulmonary hypertension treatment and patient care by pulmonologists and cardiovascular specialists.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a complex problem for many people of all ages and backgrounds. If you or a family member experience breathlessness, chest pain or dizziness, it may not be a heart problem. It could be undiagnosed PH. The good news is that modern treatment options can manage the disease for a better quality of life.

In diagnosing PH, our services include:

• Echocardiograms and electrocardiograms
• Right and left heart catheterization
• Cardiac MRI
• Lung imaging
• Pulmonary function tests
• Diagnostic sleep evaluations
• Laboratory blood work

General treatment options may include anticoagulants to prevent blood clots in the lungs, calcium channel blockers to relieve pulmonary artery constriction, diuretics to reduce fluid accumulation in the body, inhaled oxygen to medications to open narrowed blood vessels. Specific treatment options include specialized medications to open up the pulmonary arteries.

Early diagnosis of PH by the SPPHC can be instrumental in developing a course of treatment to achieve the best possible outcome.