Takotsubo cardiomyopathy: case report

Abstract

This article reports a clinical case of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy manifest clinically, biochemicaly, electrocardiographically, and echocardiographicalyas acute myocardial infarction. The diagnosis was based on finding intact coronary arteries and rapid positive dynamics of instrumental and laboratory data. Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (CMP) (stress-associated CMP, apical ballooning syndrome) is a rare reversible disease developing after acute emotional and physical stress. Its prevalence is estimated at 1-2% of all cases of acute myocardial infarction. It most commonly affects postmenopausal women. The clinical picture is similar to that of acute coronary syndrome with transient hypo- and akinesiaof apical and middle segments of the left ventricle (LV) in combination with hyperkinesia of its basal myocardial segment in the absence of stenosis or a spasm of coronary arteries. The precise pathophysiology of the disease is unknown; several hypotheses are proposed including enhancedsympathoadrenal activity, catecholamine multivesselepicardial coronary artery spasm, coronary microvascular dysfunction, catecholamine cardiotoxicity and catecholamine-mediated myocardial stunning. The Mayo Clinic diagnostic criteria are most widely used in clinical practice: transient hypokinesia, akinesia, or dyskinesia of left ventricular mid-segments with or without apical involvement; regional wall motion abnormalities extending beyond the region of blood supply of a single epicardialartery; a stressful event oftenbut not always present in the medical history in the absence of obstructive coronary disease or angiographic evidence of acute plaque rupture; new electrocardiographic abnormalities (either ST-segment elevation and/or T-wave inversion) or modest elevation in cardiac troponin 1 level; the absence of pheochromocytoma and myocarditis. Takotsubo cardiomyopathyhas been classified into 3 types based on the involvement of the left ventricle: classical type, reverse type and mid-ventricular type; lesions of right ventricle are also described. Specific treatment of the disease is unavailable, and the main purpose of therapy is normalization of LV systolic function. The prognosis of Takotsubo cardiomyopathyis favorable, complete clinical recovery is observed in 95,5% of the cases, the average time of recovery is between 2 and 3 weeks.