Heart failure is a syndrome caused by a heart dysfunction that leads to insuf ficient blood in the peripheral tissues for their metabolic demands. This syn drome still remains an obscure clinical entity and even its definition is disputed. It has become increasingly apparent that heart failure may relate not only to cardiac dysfunction but also to other physiological alterations involved in the maintenance of circulatory homeostasis. In 1988, the Japanese Circulation Society organized a three-year project for research on heart failure. The research group consisted of ten investigators, all...

Heart failure is a syndrome caused by a heart dysfunction that leads to insuf- ficient blood in the peripheral tissues for their metabolic demands. This syn- drome still remains an obscure clinical entity and even its definition is disputed. It has become increasingly apparent that heart failure may relate not only to cardiac dysfunction but also to other physiological alterations involved in the maintenance of circulatory homeostasis. In 1988, the Japanese Circulation Society organized a three-year project for research on heart failure. The research group consisted of ten investigators, all...