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Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction: Current Understandings and Challenges

  • New Therapies for Cardiovascular Disease (KW Mahaffey, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Heart failure (HF) is the leading cause of hospitalization among older adults and the prevalence is growing with the aging populations in western countries. Approximately one-half of patients with HF have preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). In contrast to HF with reduced EF (HFrEF), there is no proven effective treatment for HFpEF. The pathophysiology of HFpEF is complex, and the dominant mechanisms leading to symptoms of HF often vary between afflicted patients, confounding efforts to apply “one-size fits all” types of therapeutic approaches. Current treatment strategies focus on control of volume status and comorbidities, but future research aimed at individualized therapies holds promise to improve outcomes in this increasingly prevalent form of cardiac failure.

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Conflict of Interest

Mads J. Andersen declares that he has no conflict of interest. Barry A. Borlaug reports personal fees from Amgen, personal fees from GlaxoSmithKline, grants from Atcor Medical, personal fees from Medscape, personal fees from Merck, and grants from Gilead. In addition, Barry A. Borlaug has provisional patent applications pending, application #61/776,783 filed Mar 11, 2013, and application #61/798,382 filed Mar 15, 2013, pending.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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  1. The Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA

    Mads J. Andersen & Barry A. Borlaug

  2. The Department of Cardiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark

    Mads J. Andersen

  3. Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA

    Barry A. Borlaug

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  1. Mads J. Andersen
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Correspondence to Barry A. Borlaug.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on New Therapies for Cardiovascular Disease

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Andersen, M.J., Borlaug, B.A. Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction: Current Understandings and Challenges. Curr Cardiol Rep 16, 501 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11886-014-0501-8

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