Takotsubo cardiomyopathy – stunning views on the broken heart

• Published in: Netherlands heart journal Vol. 24; no. 9; pp. 508 - 510
• Main Authors: Teske, A. J., Verjans, J. W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Houten Bohn Stafleu van Loghum 01.09.2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anxiety; Cardiology; Cardiomyopathy; Cardiovascular disease; Conflicts of interest; Editorial Comment; Heart failure; Medical diagnosis; Medical Education; Medical prognosis; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental disorders; Patients; Search engines; Stress
• ISSN: 1568-5888; 1876-6250
• DOI: 10.1007/s12471-016-0869-8

[...]this disease presents in many shades of grey, the typical apical ballooning, but also mid-ventricular, basal, and focal subtypes have been described (for different clinical examples see http://specklepedia.com/examples/miscellaneous/tako-tsubo-cardiomyopathy/). [...]we think we can firmly conclude that the notion that takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a benign disease seems a misconception. The high prevalence of neurological and psychiatric disorders was also reflected by the fact that a substantial number of patients were taking one or more antidepressants (17.1 %). Besides the abovementioned conclusions, we may also conclude that the increased interest in takotsubo cardiomyopathy has led to many new and long-lasting insights, but thus far not to an easy diagnostic (imaging) biomarker nor treatment. The ESC Heart Failure Association has recently published, for the first time, a position statement, giving a comprehensive review, recommendations and future directions using the current state of knowledge on this intriguing acute heart failure syndrome [9].