Management of pulmonary hypertension in infants

Introduction Pulmonary hypertension in infants is characterized by elevated pulmonary vascular resistance which leads to right-to-left shunting of deoxygenated blood across the ductus arteriosus and foramen ovale into the systemic circulation leading to hypoxemia. It is associated with significant morbidity and the mortality rate has been reported to be between 7 and 15%, which is increased particularly in infants with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) or bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).