Over the last decades, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) has received less attention by the medical and scientific communities, which led to the emergence of a number of misconceptions concerning its characteristics, diagnostic and therapeutic approach. In recent years, new studies have changed the concepts traditionally associated with HFpEF, contributing to a new view towards this disease. This review is intended to discuss the latest evidence on HFpEF and to fight the main misconceptions associated with it in order to improve its diagnostic and therapeutic approach. Today we have several data showing that HFpEF is a condition that requires a different clinical approach from that used in systolic heart failure (SHF). HFpEF is no longer seen as a "benign" disease because it is associated with a poor prognosis and high prevalence. Its pathophysiology is complex and not fully clarified. In addition to diastolic dysfunction, we now know that other cardiac and extracardiac factors are also involved in its onset and progression. Using recent consensus guidelines we have objective criteria for its diagnosis, especially by using the new echocardiographic parameters for assessing diastolic function, including the E/e' ratio obtained by tissue Doppler. Finally, treatment of HFpEF remains unknown, because no therapeutic strategy has been shown to improve HFpEF prognosis. Thus, in this review we will also discuss the potentially new therapeutic targets for HFpEF.
Heart failure; stroke volume; ventricular function; demographic aging
