Cardiopulmonary Physiotherapy Practice Test

The important idea here is that PAH is defined by a rise in mean pulmonary arterial pressure beyond what’s normal. Normal mPAP at rest is up to about 20 mmHg. Modern guidelines define PAH as a mean PA pressure greater than 20 mmHg, provided the other hemodynamic criteria are met (PAWP ≤ 15 mmHg and PVR > 2 Wood units). This threshold is set to capture early elevations above normal, not just extreme cases. So among the options, 20 mmHg is the correct threshold. The older criterion used to be 25 mmHg, while 15 mmHg is within the normal range and 30 mmHg would represent more advanced disease, not the standard diagnostic threshold.