Heart failure type by ejection fraction (four categories, 2021 universal definition as restated in 2022)
front_hf_ef_type@1.0In our words: Reduced ejection fraction: 40% or lower. Mildly reduced: 41% to 49%. Preserved: 50% or higher. Improved: an earlier ejection fraction of 40% or lower, a later one above 40%, and a rise of at least 10 points. (2021 edition, as restated in an openly licensed 2022 paper.)
HFrEF, LVEF ≤ 40%
Chandramouli C, Stewart S, Almahmeed W, Lam CSP (Clinical Cardiology), Clinical implications of the universal definition for the prevention and treatment of heart failure (2022) · Section 1.3 'New universal definition' (classification by left ventricular ejection fraction) · source
Licence: open licence: CC BY 4.0, attribution: Chandramouli C, Stewart S, Almahmeed W, Lam CSP. Clinical implications of the universal definition for the prevention and treatment of heart failure. Clin Cardiol 2022;45(Suppl 1):S2-S12. doi:10.1002/clc.23842. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.. Source checked: opened. No endorsement by the cited bodies is implied.
To confirm with a clinician: the boundary wording at exactly 40%. This file reads reduced as 40% or lower (the openly licensed source); the federal cross-check says below 40%. A reported 40% is shown as reduced.
To confirm with a clinician: the improved-category baseline rule. The baseline is the first earlier ejection fraction of 40% or lower on file and the comparison value is the latest; another reading (lowest earlier value, or the value just before the latest) can give a different answer.
To confirm with a clinician: whether the 2021 categories should stay the shown edition now that a 2026 edition reportedly drops fixed cut-offs between reduced and preserved.