Hospitalizations of Children With Pulmonary Hypertension: Implications for Improving Care.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) complicates the clinical course of children with diverse cardiac, pulmonary, hematologic, and systemic diseases and remains a challenging problem. Despite the growing availability of PH-specific drug therapies, the outcomes for children with severe PH generally remain poor, and the lack of effective treatments further contributes to significant morbidities and diminishes the quality of life. Overall, pediatric PH has been understudied, and little is known about its natural history, longitudinal course, optimal diagnostic approaches, or treatment. In addition, we currently have limited understanding of disease-specific mechanisms in pediatric PH; there is a lack of organized, multidisciplinary care programs; and few markers or end points are available for assessing clinical course and response to interventions in children. Importantly, few data address the overall impact of pediatric PH on the health care system, including rates of hospitalization and health care resource utilization.