Pulmonary heart disease also known as core pulmonale, is the enlargement and failure of the right ventricle of the heart as a result of increased vascular resistance in the lungs, such as from pulmonary stenosis or high blood pressure. Chronic pulmonary heart disease that is characterized by right ventricular hypertrophy (RVH), whereas acute pulmonary heart disease is characterised by dilatation.hypertrophy is an adaptive response to prolonged pressure increases. Individual muscle cells thicken and change in order to generate the enhanced contractile force required to move blood against greater resistance. Dilatation is a stretching of the ventricle's length in response to acutely increased pressure.