Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction - unwinding the diagnosis mystique

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Medical Imaging
• Physiology

Background:

• Accurate diagnosis of diastolic dysfunction is challenging, often requiring invasive methods.
• Numerous factors complicate non-invasive assessment of diastolic function.
• Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF) diagnosis relies on evaluating diastolic function.

Purpose of the Study:

• To comprehensively review parameters for assessing diastolic function.
• To explore non-invasive methods for diagnosing diastolic dysfunction.
• To focus on HFPEF diagnosis using diastolic function parameters.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on diastolic function assessment.
• Analysis of parameters used in Doppler echocardiography.
• Evaluation of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) techniques.

Main Results:

• No single non-invasive index adequately reflects diastolic function.
• Doppler echocardiography is commonly used but has limitations.
• CMRI offers emerging capabilities for diastolic function analysis.

Conclusions:

• Assessing diastolic function for HFPEF diagnosis requires a multi-faceted approach.
• Non-invasive techniques like Doppler echocardiography and CMRI are crucial.
• Further research into reliable non-invasive markers is needed.