Takotsubo (Stress) Cardiomyopathy

Whenever a new and previously unrecognized medical condition enters our consciousness, considerable confusion and uncertainly can ensue. If a patient is afflicted by such a disease state, the natural reaction is, “I have never heard of what I have,” triggering considerable personal and family anxiety. Such is the case with the condition we now call takotsubo cardiomyopathy, which has received considerable attention from the media and has been assigned a myriad of names in the literature.Initial recognition of takotsubo cardiomyopathy occurred in Japan in 1990, with the first report emerging from the United States in 1998. Thereafter, scientific interest in this condition has increased steadily and dramatically. For example, in 2000, only 2 publications were recorded, compared with nearly 300 in 2010 (Figure 1). Now, takotsubo is widely recognized, with reports from 6 continents and diverse countries, including France, Belgium, Mexico, Australia, Spain, South Korea, China, Brazil, Germany, Israel, South Africa, Turkey, and Iceland.Figure 1. Increasing number of takotsubo cardiomyopathy publications by year, 2000 to 2010. The Acute IllnessTakotsubo cardiomyopathy starts abruptly and unpredictably, with symptoms of chest pain and, often, shortness of breath, usually triggered by an emotionally or physically stressful event, and with a predilection for women older than 50 years of age …