HFpEF Patients Exhibit Higher Respiratory Muscle Oxygen Cost During Submaximal Exercise

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) presents a significant and growing challenge in clinical practice, marked by high rates of morbidity and mortality [1, 2, 3]. Patients often experience debilitating dyspnea and exercise intolerance despite a normal left ventricular ejection fraction. While exercise training can improve functional capacity, the physiological drivers of exercise limitation remain incompletely understood, and pharmacological therapies have shown inconsistent benefits in this domain [4, 5, 1, 6, 7, 8]. A more precise understanding of the factors limiting physical activity is essential for developing more effective management strategies for this complex patient population.