[Diastolic heart failure. Treatment]

Many therapeutic options are proposed for the treatment of diastolic heart failure although no consensus has been established. In experimental trials, several drugs have demonstrated a potentially beneficial effect on ventricular diastolic dysfunction and could be used for diastolic heart failure: nitrate derivatives, converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin II antagonists, spirolactones and bradycardia agents. CLINICAL PRACTICE: In everyday clinical practice, low-dose diuretics and treatments aimed at reducing the triggering factor leading to episodes of heart failure are used alone or in combination with treatments aimed at the underlying cause of the diastolic dysfunction: betablockers, calcium inhibitors or nitrate derivatives for ischemic heart disease, drug therapy for hypertension, anti-diabetes agents, anti-arrhythmic agents for atrial fibrillation. Digitalics are not indicated. In experimental trials, converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin II antagonists have demonstrated interesting properties for the left ventricle but to date are not warranted for diastolic heart failure. TREATMENT OF THE CAUSE: Due to the lack of consensus on the optimal treatment for diastolic heart failure, most clinicians rely on treating the underlying heart disease and triggering factors.