The Role of Chronotropic Incompetence in Heart Failure With Normal Ejection Fraction (HFNEF)
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2014-01-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
What is heart failure with normal ejection fraction? The heart contracts (pumps) and relaxes
with each heartbeat. In some people with heart failure, the heart contracts normally but
there is reduced relaxation of the heart. As a result, people notice a feeling of
breathlessness, ankle swelling and fatigue especially on exertion.
The investigators feel that patients with reduced or impaired relaxation of the heart have
less heart filling time and poor energy utilisation during exercise. Therefore, the
investigators are conducting a study to more thoroughly understand the disease condition by
giving a drug called ivabradine to reduce the heart rate and hence to increase the heart
filling time in these patients.