ABSTRACT
Left ventricular (LV) remodeling is the structural hallmark of heart failure. In keeping with a key principle of biology, abnormal organ structure leads to altered organ function. The structural changes observed in cardiac remodeling are directly related to impairment of cardiac performance. Any form of heart disease can lead to heart failure. At the root cause of remodeling of the heart is the so-called “index event,” a process that initiates and sets into motion LV remodeling. Some patients with heart failure have an index event in the form of hypertension or onset of diabetes mellitus. In these disorders, LV remodeling manifests the phenotype of LV hypertrophy followed later by cavity dilatation and finally heart failure. The inciting event may be the insidious development of hypertension and/or diabetes mellitus. The syndrome of “heart failure” usually incorporates some element of diastolic dysfunction, and in the end-stages often manifests clear evidence of both systolic and diastolic dysfunctions.
