systolic cardiac dysfunction (or systolic heart failure) occurs when the heart muscle doesn't contract with enough force so there is not enough oxygen-rich blood to be pumped throughout the body. diastolic cardiac dysfunction (or diastolic heart failure) occurs when the heart contracts normally but the ventricle doesn't relax properly reducing the amount of blood that can enter the heart and causing blood to back up into the lungs. a measurement called the ejection fraction is determined to calculate how well your heart pumps with each beat to determine if systolic or diastolic dysfunction is present. in patients with systolic heart failure the ejection fraction is less than 40% and the heart has several characteristics on imaging studies such as dilated left ventricle and reduced output of the heart. in contrast patients with diastolic heart failure usually have a normal ejection fraction normal heart pumping capability but the imaging studies show that the heart has impaired filling.
what are the types of heart failure?