Main description:

Heart failure is the biggest killer in the western world, and the prevalence is expected to increase due to aging of the population. Over the past decade there has been an increasing awareness of left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction as a mechanism of congestive heart failure. This book provides the clinician with essential insights into the epidemiology and aetiology of diastolic heart failure, and will enable them to understand how the condition can be diagnosed. Furthermore, the book will provide insights in cardiac function that are needed to perform and interpret the diagnostic tests, and to provide some guides to treatment choices.

Contents:

Introduction.- Molecular mechanisms of diastolic dysfunction.- Pathophysiological aspects of myocardial relaxation and end-diastolic stiffness of cardiac ventricles.- Ventricular interactions via the septum and pericardium.- The role of the left atrium.- The role of neurohormones and peripheral vasculature.- Filling velocities as markers of diastolic function.- Myocardial velocities as markers of diastolic function.- Diastolic versus systolic heart failure.- Invasive evaluation of diastolic left ventricular dysfunction.- Echocardiographic assessment of diastolic function and diagnosis of diastolic heart failure.- Magnetic resonance imaging.- Natriuretic peptides in diagnosis of diastolic heart failure.- Noninvasive estimation of left ventricular filling pressures.- Epidemiology of Diastolic Heart Failure.- Prognosis in Diastolic Heart Failure.- Treatment of Diastolic Heart Failure.- Coronary artery disease and diastolic left ventricular dysfunction.- Hypertension and diastolic function.- Diastolic disturbances in diabetes mellitus.- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.- Constrictive pericarditis and restrictive cardiomyopathy.- Summary.