Vascular stiffness and diastolic heart failure

Abstract

Vascular stiffness is regarded as a result of degenerative processes potentiated by aging, hypertension, and other risk factors. Central hemodynamic changes are one of the serious sequels of high arterial stiffness, which gives rise to a chain of events as a higher postload on the left ventricle, its concentric hypertrophy, diastolic dysfunction and increases the overall risk of cardiovascular events. The purpose of the review is to discuss the mechanisms of vascular stiffness, focusing on the role of this condition in the development of chronic heart failure with retained ejection fraction and its pathogenetic treatment as a future target.

Keywords

• vascular stiffness
• diastolic chronic heart failure
• fibrosis
• endothelial dysfunction
• inflammation