Generality
Cor pulmonale is a heart disease, which arises due to a dysfunction of the lungs (or of the arteries that connect the heart to the lungs) and which causes an "alteration of the anatomical structure of the right ventricle. The muscular wall of the latter", in fact , stretches (therefore the ventricular cavity widens) and / or thickens (right ventricular hypertrophy), compromising the pumping action of deoxygenated blood towards the lungs.
The cause of cor pulmonale is pulmonary hypertension, which is high pressure in the pulmonary arteries.
Symptoms and typical signs of cor pulmonale are: dyspnoea, chest pain, cyanosis and leg edema.
The diagnosis must also focus on the causes of the pulmonary heart, as their identification allows better planning of therapy.
