Pulmonary Hypertension

The conference was wealthy with the presence of experts and a lot of updated practical knowledge on Pulmonary Hypertension. Despite being a working day, 116 people attended the webinar. The webinar was conducted in a very useful and informative manner and it has received a great deal of acceptance.

Conference Chairman Dr. Mohammed Bader Alseiari from Mediclinic Hospital has delivered the introduction speech and invited all the speakers and attendees to the webinar.

Dr. Hani Sabbour, staff physician at Cardiology, Heart & Vascular institute Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, has discussed and focused on the importance of early diagnosis of Pulmonary Hypertension. He started the session with basics of pulmonary circulation and explained a case study of a female patient to prove that the initial symptoms of pulmonary hypertension are non-specific. According to him, Tricuspid regurgitation velocity in screening for pulmonary hypertension can result in a significant number of false negative which can be fatal. Echocardiography should always be performed when PH is suspected. Dr. Hani’s diagnostic algorithm was exceptionally compelling in clarifying the step by step diagnosis. He added that disease severity should be assessed and monitored regularly to continuously asses the risk.

Dr. Khalid M. Saleh, staff physician at Pulmonary, Respiratory, Institute Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, has emphasized on the topic of Connective Tissue Disease related pulmonary hypertension. He started with the updates on CTD related PAH such as Prevalence, diagnosis and early detection, and treatments and challenges. He said that early detection is considered paramount to improve survival. The French were the first to try to answer the question about early detection and outcome as they established the detection cohort using screening algorithm. This has sparked interest in early detection to improve mortality. Dr. Khalid shared a comparison of treatment response in Idiopathic and connective tissue disease associated Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. CTD are less affected hemodynamically more issues with walking related to arthritis and limited mobility. According to him, Systemic Sclerosis-associated Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension may fall in different groups of PAH and can be harmed by medications if they get misclassified. It should be referred to specialize center with experience in managing complicated PAH patients.

                Dr. Govinda Saicharan Bodi, Associate staff physician at Pulmonary, Respiratory, Institute Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, has shared his updated knowledge on Lung imaging in Pulmonary Hypertension patients. His session touched mainly on Enumerate imaging options in Pulmonary Hypertension, significance of lung imaging, CT imaging modalities, and updates on newer methods of lung imaging. During the session he explained various imaging options like Chest radiograph, Echo cardiogram, CT scan, CT angiography, Ventilation Perfusion scan, MRI scan, Ultrasound, Pulmonary angiogram and other Novel imaging methods. The comparison of those methods has educated the listeners with sufficient information on the right use and features of each imaging options. According to Dr. Govinda, imaging plays a vital role in the evaluation of Pulmonary Hypertension and it is essential for diagnosis, etiology, quantification, risk stratification and assessment of therapeutic response.

                After the interactive question and answers session, Conference Chairman Dr. Mohammed Bader Alseiari has expressed his appreciation and sincere gratitude to the members for facilitating the webinar with so many participants.