[Treatment of patients with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction: reliance on clinical phenotypes]

[What is "normal left ventricular ejection fraction" and its relationship with the pathogenesis and effectiveness of the treatment of heart failure]

The article focuses on modern views on the role and place of left ventricular ejection fraction (LV EF) in determining the status of cardiovascular patients (primarily patients with heart failure) in the algorithm for their diagnosis, treatment, and prediction of the outcome. Conclusions and recommendations on the use of LV EF in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) are the following: 1) LV EF remains a familiar and convenient instrumental indicator not so much of myocardial contractility as of hemodynamics in general. Assessment of LV EF is useful for selection and ranking of CHF patients whereas the LV EF dynamics is useful for assessing the quality of their management. 2) In the entire population of cardiovascular patients, the "normal" LV EF (mortality nadir) is in the range of 60-65%. 3) LV EF demonstrates a U-shaped relationship with prognosis: in cardiovascular patients with LV EF below the mortality nadir, the relationship is inversely proportional, and above the mortality nadir, it is directly proportional. The question of the boundary between "normal" and "reduced" LV EF in terms of CHF syndrome remains open, but obviously, this boundary is most likely within the range of 50 to 60%. 4) LV EF determines the effectiveness of CHF treatment, but this rule is not applicable to all LV EF ranges and not to all classes of drugs.

[Рossibility of using European (HFA-PEFF) and American (H2FPEF) algorithms for diagnosing heart failure with preserved ejection fraction in Russian clinical practice]

This article focuses on the significance of a unified approach to diagnosing heart failure with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (HFpEF). The key hemodynamic index of HFpEF is increased left ventricular filling pressure (LVFP) and its noninvasive marker, the E / e' value obtained by tissue Doppler echocardiography (EchoCG). The modern verified algorithms for HFpEF diagnosis, HFA-PEFF and Н2FPEF, mandatorily take into account the E / e' value. However, the routing use of these algorithms in the Russian practice may be complicated since even among "advanced" specialists who are interested in heart failure, 38% of the interviewed do not use or do not know how to use tissue Doppler EchoCG or the algorithm for diagnosing HFpEF with E / e'. In addition to the obvious way of overcoming this problem by equipping respective medical facilities with ultrasonic apparatuses with tissue Doppler EchoCG software and educating physicians, a possibility of using simplified HFA algorithm without the E / e' value is being considered. However, such approach will inevitably lead to erroneous estimation of the probability of HFpEF and, at the best, to underestimation of this probability with ensuing mistakes in diagnosis and treatment. Simplifying the HFA-PEFF and H2FPEF algorithms by omitting one or more parameters is possible but this requires a special investigation to develop a new rating scale and actually a new algorithm, which, in turn, will require a new validation.

[Three ages of spironolactone. Evolution of views on spironolactone capabilities in the treatment of patients with heart failure.]

The article describes the history of the discovery of aldosterone and the creation of its antagonist, spironolactone. The effects of aldosterone associated with the stimulation of two types of receptors.  Long-term effect (nuclear or genomic) and fast - term (membrane). They are manifested not only by the influence on the water-salt metabolism and the volume of extracellular fluid, but also in the regulation of vascular tone and elasticity of the vascular wall and, most interestingly, the effect on cardiac remodeling. Early after its development  Spironolactone was considered as a medicine for water-salt metabolism regulation, diuresis and normalization of blood pressure. In the following period,  Spironolactone embraced a new area - systolic heart failure. The drug was considered not only to enhance safe diuresis, but also to eliminate the phenomenon of escape of the antialdosterone effect angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors. The change in the paradigm of heart failure towards the prevailing changes in her diastolic phenotype, which is based on excessive diffuse myocardial fibrosis, changed role of spironolactone in the treatment of heart failure. Currently, it is considered as an independent drug, due to its powerful antifibrotic effect, blocking which controls the whole complex of endo- and paracrine effects of aldosterone.