Page 200 - Clinical Pearls in Cardiology

188 Clinical Pearls in Cardiology

pulmonary venous or arterial hypertension, the RDPA
is usually greater than 17 mm in diameter (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7: Measuring width of right descending pulmonary artery (RDPA)
11. What do the terms ‘cephalization’ and ‘pruning’ mean
with respect to pulmonary hypertension?
Cephalization is the term used to denote that the upper
lobe blood vessels are equal to or greater than the size of
the lower lobe blood vessels. Cephalization is a feature
of pulmonary venous hypertension.
Pruning means that there is a rapid decrease in the
size of the peripheral blood vessels relative to the central
vessels from which they come. Pruning is a feature of
pulmonary arterial hypertension.