Guideline Video

Guideline Resources

  • Second Universal Definition of Heart Failure
  • American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, European Society of Cardiology
  • June 29, 2026
  • Summary
  • Full-text

Video Transcription

Just published June 29th, 2026, the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, and European Society of Cardiology’s newest expert consensus document on Second Universal Definition of Heart Failure.

The document aims to standardize terminology and facilitate a uniform approach for clinicians, researchers, health systems, and policymakers.

In today’s rapid update, we’ll just be going over key highlights so for the full consensus document, make sure to check it out on guidelinecentral.com

Let’s get started. 

The 2026 statement reaffirms the first Universal Definition and Classification of Heart Failure staging (Stage A: At risk for Heart Failure; Stage B: Pre-Heart Failure; Stage C: Heart Failure; Stage D: Advanced Heart Failure). Additionally, it’s noted that having no risk factors is denoted as Stage 0.

The new statement encourages the use of clinically actionable groups for the classification of heart failure, stepping back from using left ventricular ejection fraction, or LVEF, cutoffs. These groups include heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, and heart failure with improved ejection fraction, heart failure with previously reduced LVEF that has now increased/normalized. 

The Second Universal Definition of Heart Failure provides universal classifications of heart failure by cause. Some examples include: infective cardiomyopathy: viral myocarditis, Chagas disease, HIV, lyme disease; inflammatory cardiomyopathy: autoimmune disease, sarcoidosis, hypersensitivity, desmoplakin; and ischemic cardiomyopathy: ischemic heart disease, myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease. The proposed classification by cause is meant to help standardize the reporting of heart failure causes in clinical and research settings.

And there you have it. Make sure to check out the full document from the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, and European Society of Cardiology and other related clinical decision support tools at guidelinecentral.com.

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