Abstract

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) in pediatrics is a rare illness that is known by progressive structural alterations with accompanied elevation in arterial pressure and vascular resistance that leads to right heart failure and mortality. PH in pediatrics has a poor prognosis and is a life-threatening illness that necessitates early and appropriate management. This review was established to overview the progress made in pediatric PH management in Saudi Arabia. Hence, the search process for obtaining relevant articles was conducted using scientific websites and databases with related keywords. Eligible articles included those focused on the research topic, originating from Saudi Arabia or other regions for comparative insights. Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a potential disease among the pediatric population with significant adverse outcomes and poor prognosis; however, this disease gained low focus in the research field and clinical trials with a lack of prevalence and incidence data globally and in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia published a guideline on the management of PAH among children in the year 2014; however, since then, there has been no progression noted in the management of PAH children in Saudi Arabia due to the lack of research and clinical trials reporting the outcomes and the impacts of different therapeutic regimens. Furthermore, it cannot be deduced which ideal treatment is for the pediatric population as the treatment of this population is mainly based on the research conducted on the adult population.

Key words: PAH, pediatrics, treatment, management, systemic review.