Certified Cardiac Rehabilitation Professional (CCRP) Practice Test 2025 – Complete All-in-One Guide for Exam Success!

Pulmonary hypertension is defined as elevated blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries, which are the vessels that carry blood from the heart to the lungs. This condition reflects an increase in the pressure within these arteries, indicating that the heart has to work harder to pump blood through the lungs. Such heightened pressure can result from various underlying conditions, including lung diseases, heart failure, or certain congenital structural heart defects.

Understanding pulmonary hypertension is critical because it can lead to significant complications, including heart strain and reduced oxygenation of blood. This distinguishes the concept of elevated pulmonary pressure from the other conditions mentioned. The other options relate to different physiological states and do not accurately define pulmonary hypertension. For instance, reduced blood flow through the lungs and improved blood flow through small arteries are not characteristics of this condition, nor does increased fluid volume in the lungs directly define it. Thus, elevated pulmonary pressure is the key feature that encapsulates what pulmonary hypertension indicates.