Pulmonary hypertension

[Yui]

Stupid question: Does does pulmonary hypertension cause respiratory acidosis or respiratory alkalosis?

I could see it either way: if they are hypoxic and not oxygenating well, I could see how PCO2 would be high and that would cause respiratory acidosis; on the other hand, if they are tachypnic and breathing a lot to try to compensate for the hypoxia, I could see how their PCO2 would be low and it would be respiratory alkalosis.... which one is it???

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[Apoplexy__]

I wouldn't consider it to be a 1-to-1 relationship. Pulmonary HTN has multiple etiologies: A VSD producing pulmonary HTN would be increased perfusion/oxygenation, while pulmonary fibrosis would be a problem of decreased perfusion/oxygenation. So whether or not one etiology causes acidosis/alkalosis, it could be the opposite for another etiology.