Pulmonary Shunt

• by stormynw
• 2014-09-18 01:09:51
• General Posting
• 1055 views
• 2 comments

Hello out there :)

So 4 months post op STILL extremely short of breath and following a Shunt Test yesterday, today the Pulmonologist called me to tell me that I have a Pulmonary Shunt. This is not like a shunt used to drain fluid, in this case it means that:

Blood can reach the lungs successfully and the alveoli, the tiny air sacks in the lungs, are fully perfused with blood. Oxygen, however, does NOT enter the blood in the normal gas exchange process where carbon dioxide leaves the blood and oxygen replaces it. As a result, blood passes through the pulmonary artery, fails to pick up oxygen, and enters the pulmonary vein to return to the heart. The heart pumps the blood through the body, but it is not carrying enough oxygen, and the patient's tissues will start to experience hypoxia due to oxygen deprivation.
While I am SO thankful to finally KNOW why I constantly feel as if I can't breathe, I have to admit this is all SO dang scary! The Dr ordered three more studies this afternoon and she wants them done as soon as possible. So guess looks like a little more waiting is ahead but…. Finally an explanation.

I was just wondering if by ANY chance anyone out there has been diagnosed with a Pulmonary Shunt OR Pulmonary Hypertension ( High blood pressure in the lungs) which might also be part of this depending on further test results. Thanks.