ObjectiveTo retrieve and summarize the clinical studies on traditional Chinese medicine for heart failure prevention and treatment and to observe the distribution of evidence in the field of heart failure by using the method of evidence map.MethodsPubMed, Web of Science, EMbase, CNKI, WanFang Data and VIP databases were searched from January 2000 to January 2020. Clinical studies, systematic reviews, guidelines, and clinical pathways related to traditional Chinese medicine for heart failure prevention and treatment were included, and the distribution characteristics of evidence were analyzed by using charts and text descriptions.ResultsA total of 8 580 papers were included, including 8 398 clinical studies (6 821 randomized controlled trials, 1 109 non-randomized controlled trials and 468 observational studies), 160 systematic reviews, and 22 guidelines, expert consensus and pathway studies. The number of clinical studies domestically and abroad showed an overall growth trend. The sample size was concentrated in 60- 100 cases. Coronary atherosclerotic heart disease was the most common comorbidity of heart failure. AMSTAR scores of systematic reviews were primarily 4 to 8. The results of high-quality randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews showed that traditional Chinese medicine combined with conventional Western medicine in the treatment of heart failure had certain advantages in improving heart function, quality of life and prognosis.ConclusionsHigh-quality clinical studies show that traditional Chinese medicine has certain advantages in the efficacy and safety of heart failure prevention and treatment; however, few studies have high methodological quality. In the future, multi-center, large sample size, and high methodological quality clinical studies are needed to further explore the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine therapy in the field of heart failure.