Research Update – Exercise Echocardiography is a Useful Tool in the Diagnosis of HFpEF

Professor O’Sulllivan from our Centre for Heart Failure & Diseases of the Aorta has recently authored an important high impact paper on diagnostic criteria for HFpEF (a type of heart failure where the heart pumps normally but struggles under stress). This paper explains that diagnosing HFpEF is often difficult because many patients appear normal on standard resting tests. It argues that testing the heart during exercise is crucial, because the problem in HFpEF typically only becomes apparent when the heart is under strain. While the most accurate test involves invasive measurements, this isn’t widely available, so exercise echocardiography (a heart ultrasound done during exercise) offers a practical alternative. However, current versions of this test can miss a significant number of cases, meaning some patients may be falsely reassured and go untreated. The authors suggest that improving how the test is performed, refining diagnostic thresholds, and incorporating additional measures and artificial intelligence could make it much more reliable in the future, helping ensure that more patients are correctly diagnosed and treated.