Ventricular remodeling in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is common, increasing in prevalence, and causes substantial morbidity and mortality. HFpEF has commonly been viewed as an expression of advanced hypertensive heart disease, with a cardiac phenotype characterized by an increase in wall thickness-to-chamber radius ratio (concentric hypertrophy). However, marked clinical heterogeneity within this syndrome is now well appreciated, and is mirrored in the variability in left ventricular (LV) structure. A review of larger imaging studies from epidemiology and clinical trial cohorts demonstrate that while concentric LV remodeling is common, it is by no means universal and many patients demonstrate normal LV geometry or even an eccentric pattern. More detailed assessment of cardiac structure and function in broader HFpEF populations will be necessary to better define the prevalence, determinants, and prognostic relevance of these measures, which may in turn serve as a foundation to identify pathophysiologically relevant sub-phenotypes within this diverse syndrome. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.