If you have a chest condition and notice that your ankles are swelling at times when the condition seems particularly severe, see your physician promptly. If you smoke, quit now. Heart failure caused by pulmonary hypertension can be relieved by bed rest and treatment with oxygen, which reduces spasm in your pulmonary arteries, and diuretics, which rid your body of excess fluid. Occasionally, vasodilating drugs can be effective in reducing the blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries.
Further episodes are likely, though, unless the underlying disorder is treated.
Treatment depends on the underlying disease. Your physician may prescribe prolonged daily home treatment with oxygen, which sometimes helps to lower pulmonary blood pressure. If your pulmonary hypertension is caused by chronic lung disease, the goal of long-term treatment is to stop further deterioration of your lungs. Your physician may prescribe antibiotics and immunize you against influenza and the pneumococcus bacteria to help prevent acute chest infections. People who have pulmonary hypertension and progressive heart failure and lung disease can be treated successfully by transplantation of the heart and lungs or just the lungs if the heart has not been damaged.