Heart failure heart failure occurs when your heart muscle doesnt pump blood as well as it should when your heart doesnt pump enough blood to meet your needs blood often backs up and causes fluid to build up in your lungs congest and in your legs causing your legs to swell and turn blue from lack of oxygenated blood flow cyanosis. Jul 10 2020 by edgar wallace diastolic heart failure may clinic heart failure heart failure occurs when your heart muscle doesnt pump blood as well as it should when your heart doesnt pump enough blood to meet your needs blood often backs up and causes fluid to build up in your lungs. I am a 72 yr old female i have been diagnosed with diastolic heart failure hardening of arorta i also have hypothyroid my blood pressure had been high for yrs and cholesterol was very high i had an echocardiogram three yrs ago and was never treated for heart failure till . Context the heart failure hf syndrome is heterogeneous while it can be defined by ejection fraction ef and diastolic function data on the characteristics of hf in the community are scarce as most studies are retrospective hospital based and rely on clinically indicated tests. Diastolic dysfunction is when your heart cant relax fast enough after each beat diastolic dysfunction raises your risk of death heres what you need to know