The designation from the condition’s oldest patient organization is awarded to programs with the infrastructure and experience needed to provide high-quality care to people with pulmonary hypertension, a type of high blood pressure that occurs in arteries of the lungs.

Pulmonary hypertension can make it difficult for blood to circulate through the lungs, forcing the heart to work harder. In severe cases, the condition can lead to heart failure. People with pulmonary hypertension often need care from several specialists.

The Cedars-Sinai Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic includes six physicians and one nurse practitioner. The pulmonary hypertension program combines cardiology and pulmonology, which allows patients to access multidisciplinary care from experts in the disease. Providers care for more than 250 patients each year and address multiple aspects of the disease, including diagnosis, medication management, symptom control and disease progression.

“At Cedars-Sinai, pulmonary hypertension specialists collaborate with colleagues in rheumatology, congenital heart disease, critical care medicine, lung transplantation and other specialties to create treatment plans tailored to patients,” said Yuri Matusov, MD, assistant professor of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai. “We are proud to care for an extraordinarily diverse patient population, some of whom come from very far away for their care.”

The association noted several outstanding aspects of the Cedars-Sinai Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic including:

• A team that collaborates and provides timely evaluation and management of people who are hospitalized and continues to provide consistent care when they leave the hospital.
• Monthly conferences with specialists in the Southern California region that allow for the review of complex pulmonary hypertension cases, knowledge-sharing and regional care coordination.
• For people with advanced disease, access to top-notch heart, lung and thoracic transplant programs.
• A research program led by doctors investigating potential treatments.

“We are honored for our clinic to have received this designation, the highest recognition available to pulmonary hypertension programs in the United States,” said Dael Geft, MD, assistant professor of Cardiology in the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai. “Ultimately, the greatest reward is helping our patients live longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives.”

Read more on the Cedars-Sinai Newsroom: Unique Cell-Based Approach for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Shown to Be Safe