提高对肺动脉高压的诊断意识

肺动脉高压（PAH）是一种预后极差的进展性疾病，由于病因多而复杂，症状体征不典型，常规检查敏感性低，PAH常常被延误诊断，而且当患者确立PAH诊断时，多数已经处于NYHA功能分级Ⅲ-Ⅳ级。最重要提高临床诊断水平的手段是提高对PAH的认识和诊断意识。临床医生只有全面理解WHO肺高压分类标准，掌握并合理使用各种诊断方法和措施，仔细筛查，确诊PAH并明确病因，评估病情，才能尽早采取具有循证医学证据的规范化治疗，提高患者的生活质量和预后。

Raise awareness on pulmonary arterial hypertension

Pulmonary arterial hypertension （PAH） is a progressive disease with a quite poor prognosis. Due to the complexity and variety of causes, the nonspecific nature of the symptoms and the low sensitivity of diagnostic methods routinely used, the diagnosis of PAH is often delayed. Furthermore, the majority of these patients were classified to New York Heart Association （NYHA） functional class Ⅲor Ⅳ due to severe impaired exercise capacity when the diagnosis was established. Therefore, the most urgent approach to improve the survival and quality of life in patients with PAH is to raise the awareness and knowledge of medical care staff. For applying evidence-based treatment as soon as possible to improve the survival time and quality of life for PAH patients, clinicians need comprehensive understanding of the classification of World Health Organization （WHO） conference for pulmonary hypertension in 2003, rational using of diagnostic tools and measurements, careful screening, then making a definite diagnosis, and identifying the causes and precise assessment of disease severity.