Diastolic heart failure: old story, new concepts
Mercadier, J.J.
Archives des Maladies du Coeur et des Vaisseaux 96(9): 885-892
2003
ISSN/ISBN: 0003-9683 PMID: 14571643 Document Number: 556791
Diastolic heart failure refers to a clinical syndrome characterised by symptoms and signs of congestive heart failure, with a normal or subnormal left ventricular (LV) systolic function associated with alterations in LV diastolic function. Diastolic dysfunction is a pathological condition during which the LV is unable to accept a volume of blood coming back from the lungs appropriate to maintain its stroke volume under normal filling pressure. Three eventually associated mechanisms are responsible for such dysfunction: impaired LV relaxation, increased LV stiffness and loss of normal atrial function. Prevention of LV hypertrophic remodelling should decrease the incidence of diastolic heart failure.