Mean pulmonary arterial pressure is the average pressure in the pulmonary artery, and is the key measurement used to diagnose pulmonary hypertension.
Normal resting pulmonary pressure.
Above the current threshold for pulmonary hypertension.
Established pulmonary hypertension.
Markedly elevated.
A resting mean above 20 mmHg defines pulmonary hypertension.
MPAP measures pressure in the separate, lower-pressure pulmonary circulation between the heart and lungs, not the systemic circulation measured by a standard blood pressure cuff.
Normal resting MPAP is under 20 mmHg. Current guideline definitions place pulmonary hypertension at a resting MPAP above 20 mmHg.
Most accurately by right heart catheterization. It can also be estimated from the systolic and diastolic pulmonary artery pressures using the weighted formula.
As with systemic MAP, the cardiac cycle spends more time in diastole, so the mean sits closer to the diastolic pulmonary pressure.