Summary

Much attention has been given to heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction (or systolic heart failure), and clinical practice guidelines have been developed for the treatment of this type of HF. However, less evidence has been available for the pathophysiology or treatment of HF with preserved ejection fraction (or diastolic heart failure). Enhanced understanding of diastolic HF is crucial, because it is more common than systolic HF and its prevalence is increasing. This article presents an overview of the diagnosis, pathophysiology, and treatment of diastolic HF and compared its characteristics with those of systolic HF.