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Patients with heart failure can have either reduced or normal left-ventricular ejection fractions (LVEFs). These two types of HF have the same clinical signs and symptoms, but HF patients with normal LVEFs (i.e., with "diastolic heart failure" [DHF]) tend to be older and female and are more likely to have hypertension, LV hypertrophy, marked exercise intolerance, and high rehospitalization rates than patients with systolic HF.
Researchers characterized the pathophysiology of DHF in a multicenter, prospective study of 47 patients (66% men; mean age, 59; mean systolic blood pressure, 160 mm Hg) with LVEFs >50% and HF symptoms. Subjects' cardiac catheterization and echocardiography results were compared with those of 10 patients with chest pain…