Final answer:
Heart failure with preserved EF is considered diastolic heart failure, where the heart's ability to relax and fill during diastole is impaired while maintaining normal systolic function.
Step-by-step explanation:
Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (EF) is considered diastolic heart failure. This type of heart failure occurs when the left ventricle becomes too stiff to fill properly during diastole, despite having a normal or near-normal contractile function during systole. In this situation, the heart muscle cells might not function properly due to issues with calcium ion regulation within the cardiac muscle cells, reducing their ability to relax.
This leads to increased pressure in the left atrium and pulmonary capillaries, potentially resulting in symptoms such as pulmonary edema. Unlike systolic heart failure, where the heart can't pump efficiently, in diastolic heart failure, the heart can pump but can't fill well due to lack of proper relaxation.