Abstract
Heart failure is a clinical syndrome, which is characterized by symptoms such as breathlessness, fatigue, and
edema that appear as a result of decompensation in cardiac function, due to a structural and/or functional cardiac
abnormality, and is accompanied by a decrease in exercise tolerance.
Heart failure is a progressive and poor-prognosis syndrome, which thus requires not only drug treatment but
also comprehensive medical treatment, such as diet therapy and exercise therapy, combined with cardiac rehabilitation.
In addition, the number of elderly patients with heart failure will increase in the future, which is called a heart
failure pandemic; therefore, it is necessary to provide medical care based on symptoms while also considering
palliative medicine and views on life.
Previously, The Japanese Circulation Society classified heart failure into acute and chronic categories, with
specific guidelines for each. However, both acute and chronic conditions are considered a series of heart failure
stages, and revisions have been made for early intervention based on heart failure stages.
Regarding chronic phase management of heart failure, the treatment and evaluation method clinically change
depending on left ventricular function, and the latest heart failure therapeutic agents are described with reference
to the evidence.
The targets of heart failure management are to prevent death and control heart failure hospitalizations, which
are the endpoints of many large clinical trials, but it is also important to improve the exercise capacity and quality
of life (QOL). The role of practitioners and medical cooperation with clinics are extremely important.
