Diastolic Heart Failure
Diastolic heart failure, also called heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), occurs when your heart muscle becomes too stiff to relax and expand to fill with enough blood. This results in less blood leaving the heart during each heartbeat.
Diastolic heart failure is associated with aging, and this condition can gradually worsen into advanced heart failure without proper diagnosis.
Our Approach to Treating Diastolic Heart Failure
Our heart failure specialists are experts in diagnosing and treating diastolic heart failure.
By leveraging advanced diagnostics and testing, including cardiopulmonary exercise testing and right-heart catheterization with exercise, our heart failure experts significantly increase the chances of correctly diagnosing diastolic heart failure.
Our experts also work with pulmonologists in the Houston Methodist Lung Center to confirm whether common symptoms of diastolic heart failure, such as progressive, unexplained shortness of breath, may actually be the result of a lung condition rather than a heart condition.
In addition, our team has access to the state-of-the-art imaging techniques needed to distinguish diastolic heart failure from other heart conditions that can mimic it, such as cardiac amyloidosis, heart valve defects and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).
And since effective treatment options are generally lacking for those with diastolic heart failure, our cardiologists and scientists are actively researching new and better ways to treat this condition.
About Diastolic Heart Failure
What Causes Diastolic Heart Failure?
- High blood pressure, also called hypertension
- Increasing age
- Atrial fibrillation (AFib), also known as irregular heartbeat
- Obesity or being overweight
- Sleep apnea
- Coronary artery disease
- Diabetes
- Kidney disease
What Are the Symptoms of Diastolic Heart Failure?
The symptoms of heart failure include:
- Shortness of breath
- Leg and abdomen swelling
- Constant fatigue
How Is Diastolic Heart Failure Diagnosed?
- Echocardiogram, an ultrasound of the heart
- Electrocardiogram (EKG/ECG)
- Chest X-ray
- Blood tests
- Right-heart catheterization with exercise using a supine bicycle
- Cardiopulmonary exercise test
- Cardiac MRI
How Is Diastolic Heart Failure Treated?
While many medications exist to treat diastolic heart failure, a promising treatment option is currently lacking. Our cardiologist and scientists are researching new and better ways to treat this condition.
In the meantime, care for diastolic heart failure is centered around:
- Correcting and effectively controlling underlying causes, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and sleep apnea
- Making lifestyle adjustments, including exercising and restricting salt and fluid intake
- Taking medicines to control heart rhythm problems and fluid buildup
- Implanting wireless devices (cardioMEMS) to remotely transmit real-time pulmonary artery pressure changes to your care team