Pulmonary Hypertension?

Hi All,

I went in for a physical last week and my EKG says it detected a right ventricular hypertrophy. I haven't spoken with my doctor yet and definitely wish they hadn't sent me the test results when my appointment isn't for two weeks!

After some research I saw that the right ventricular hypertrophy is commonly caused by pulmonary hypertension, which can be associated with connective tissue diseases. I've had pain in the center of my chest for a while now, but it didn't seem severe enough to mention to my doctor, so I just assumed costochondritis. I also get light headed/dizzy and racing heart when going up the stairs lately, even though I'm in fairly decent shape. My hematocrit also came up high on my blood work.

I'm hoping this is a fluke, my rheumy is still trying to figure out what is going on with me, I've only been diagnosed with UCTD and these last few months I feel like my symptoms are just rapidly progressing.

Does anyone have experience with this? Should I wait for my follow up with my PCP in 2 weeks or fax the results over to my rheumy? Or should I consult a cardiologist?

Thank you for the help! Trying not to panic!

I have mctd and was suspected of having PH after failing all the pulmonary lung function tests. It was so bad that I had a right heart catherization only to find out my problems were being caused by the extreme weakness of my muscles. As I made a physical recovery over several years all my lung problems disappeared.

Do you have weak muscles anywhere? I would have it looked into in case it is something else. UCtd is like a preliminary diagnosis when autoimmune symptoms are not clearly one thing or another. It often develops into a distinct diagnosis like mctd which is sle lupus, polymyositis or dermatomyositis, scleroderma. I Have pm and lupus but not scleroderma. Interstitial lung disease is common with overlap diseases like mctd but can manifest in different ways or not at all. Trying to self diagnosis based on the internet is dangerous at best. If your pcp thinks there are pulmonary or heart problems you should see the appropriate specialist. List any clinical symptoms you are having as well as both heart and lung are usually not silent problems.

Bill