Why Living with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Requires a Holistic Approach: A Patient and Clinician Perspective

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare disease caused by high pressure in the blood vessels leading from the heart to the lung. PAH affects many parts of a patient’s life, which means that patients should be managed by a clinical team of different specialists, including doctors, advance practice providers, nurses, social workers, and therapists. This article is co-authored by a patient living with PAH and an acute care nurse practitioner specializing in the management of patients with pulmonary hypertension. In the first section of this commentary, the patient describes her experience of living with PAH. The specialist nurse practitioner then discusses the management of PAH, to provide a clinician perspective in the context of the patient’s experiences. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text]