Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: from mechanisms to therapies

Abstract

This review aims to provide a translational perspective on recent developments in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), linking mechanistic insights to potential therapies. A key concept in this review is that HFpEF is a haemodynamic condition wherein the heart fails to keep up with the circulatory demands of the body, or does so at the expense of raised left ventricular filling pressures. We, therefore, propose that the 'final common pathway' for development of congestion, i.e. basic haemodynamic mechanisms of increased left ventricular end-diastolic pressure, left atrial hypertension, pulmonary venous congestion, and plasma volume expansion, represents important initial targets for therapy in HFpEF. Accordingly, we group this review into six mechanisms translating into potential therapies for HFpEF: beginning with three haemodynamic mechanisms (left atrial hypertension, pulmonary hypertension, and plasma volume expansion), and working backward to three potential molecular mechanisms [systemic microvascular inflammation, cardiometabolic functional abnormalities, and cellular (titin)/extracellular (fibrosis) structural abnormalities].