Cor Vasa 2007, 49(9):318-321 | DOI: 10.33678/cor.2007.113

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy as an option in the differential diagnosis in transient left ventricular dysfunction

Petr Zajíček¹, Richard Wiesner¹, Pavel Prodělal¹, Marek Richter²

¹ Interní oddělení, Nemocnice Valašské Meziříčí a. s., Valašské Meziříčí

² I. interní klinika, Fakultní nemocnice Olomouc a Lékařská fakulta Univerzity Palackého, Olomouc, Česká republika

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a relatively new clinical entity, which should be considered in the differential diagnosis as a potential cause of complaints in the presence of a negative or insignificant coronary angiographic finding in patients referred for coronary angiography with suspected acute coronary syndrome. The case report presents a 57-year-old female patient with a history of rheumatic fever while young, and a state following subsequent mitral valve replacement for rheumatic heart disease, who was hospitalized in the department of medicine of a catchment hospital for chest pain developing after a negative emotional experience. Because of elevated cardiospecific markers and echocardiographic finding of new-onset left ventricular dyskinesia, the patient was referred for acute coronary angiography, which failed to document coronary bed involvement. Given the typical history, spontaneous remission of pain, and normalization of left ventricular kinetics, plus the small likelihood of another etiology, the authors suggest the most likely cause of the problems was an attack of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.

Keywords: Cardiomyopathy; Takotsubo; Acute coronary syndrome; Echocardiography; Coronary angiography

Published: September 1, 2007  Show citation