“Thinking Outside the Box” on Takotsubo Syndrome

Abstract

Reading the rapidly expanding data on Takotsubo syndrome (TTS), one can sense that some stagnation has been creeping into the field. All the case studies and review articles appear identical and stereotypical in their exposition, almost “carbon copies” in the particulars they have reported, the specific references they have cited, and the pathophysiologic speculations they have attempted. Perusing the most recent entries, of the 1,607 reports retrievable as of April 14, 2013 in PubMed, using the search term “Takotsubo” (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=takotsubo), one will be exposed to a fixed litany of facts and hypotheses, ending with the conclusion that we have a number of conundrums of an affliction with an unknown pathophysiology.