Determinants of exercise intolerance in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: A systematic review and...

Severe exercise intolerance (EI), demonstrated by impaired peak oxygen consumption, intrinsically characterizes heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Controversy exists on the determinants of EI in patients with HFpEF according to case-control studies. The purpose of this study is to systematically review and clarify the main (Fick) determinants of EI in HFpEF.

We conducted a systematic search of MEDLINE, Scopus and Web of Science since their inceptions until January 2017 for articles assessing peak cardiac output and/or arteriovenous oxygen difference (a-vO_2diffpeak) with incremental exercise in patients diagnosed with HFpEF and age-matched control individuals. Meta-analyses were performed to determine the standardized mean difference (SMD) in peak cardiac index (CI_peak) and a-vO_2diffpeak between HFpEF and control groups. Subgroup and meta-regression analyses were used to evaluate potential moderating factors.

Ten studies were included after systematic review, comprising a total of 213 HFpEF patients and 179 age-matched control individuals (mean age=51-73years). After data pooling, CI_peak (n=392, SMD=-1.42; P<0.001) and a-vO_2diffpeak (n=228, SMD=-0.52; P=0.002) were impaired in HFpEF patients. In subgroup analyses, a-vO_2diffpeak was reduced in HFpEF versus healthy individuals (n=114, SMD=-0.85; P<0.001) but not compared with control patients without heart failure (n=92, SMD=-0.12; P=0.57). The SMD in a-vO_2diffpeak was negatively associated with age (B=-0.05, P=0.046), difference in % females (B=-0.01, P=0.026) and prevalence of hypertension (B=-0.01, P=0.015) between HFpEF and control groups.

HFpEF is associated with a predominant impairment of CI_peak, accompanied by sex- and comorbidity-dependent reduced oxygen extraction at peak exercise.