there is no single test to diagnose pulmonary hypertension (ph). most people will have a number of tests before an accurate diagnosis can be made. many of these tests are used to find out whether there are other causes of the symptoms, or to assess if you have a condition that may be causing ph.
the diagram below shows some of the common steps in diagnosing ph. which tests are chosen will be different for each person, depending on the outcome of the previous test. at any point along the way, these tests could reveal a person has a disease other than ph. the web pages within this section give more information about each of these tests. click the tabs on the left (if you’re reading this on a computer) or the ‘in this section’ tab at the top (if you’re reading this on a phone or tablet).
there are also many tests that may be done to check on aspects of your health and well-being that may not be directly related to ph. these include blood tests, liver function tests and questionnaires to see how much ph is affecting your life.
it can take time for a diagnosis of ph to be made. a pha uk survey, conducted in 2017, showed that 48% of patients waited over a year after first experiencing symptoms before being diagnosed, and 40% had to see four or more doctors.
