New Molecular Mechanism in Diastolic Heart Failure

New molecular mechanism in diastolic heart failure.

In contrast to systolic heart failure (SHF), for which knowledge of pathophysiology and therapy has advanced rapidly over the past decade, little is known about diastolic heart failure (DHF). The article by van Heerebeek et al1 in this issue of Circulation that describes an abnormal distribution of titin isoforms in DHF may herald a new approach to understanding the pathophysiology of this synd...

Diastolic Heart Failure

Diastolic heart failure.

to the editor: Zile et al. (May 6 issue) 1 conclude that heart failure develops in patients with a normal ejection fraction because of abnormal active and passive diastolic function. However, the applicability of this conclusion to all such patients is uncertain for several reasons. First, accurate assessment of left ventricular volume, on which the conclusions critically depend, requires a thr...

Diastolic heart failure.

Defining diastolic heart failure.

The diagnosis of diastolic heart failure suggested by Vasan and Levy1 and Grossman,2 as definite, probable, or possible, presently hinges on the demonstration of diastolic left ventricular (LV) dysfunction at cardiac catheterization or echocardiography. It is likely that a far simpler measure, which is based on an analysis of the arterial pulse measured noninvasively, can be used. The studies o...