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Takotsubo cardiomyopathy after cesarean: A case report and published work review of pregnancy‐related cases
Author(s) -
Minatoguchi Miki,
Itakura Atsuo,
Takagi Eiji,
Nishibayashi Manabu,
Kikuchi Mariko,
Ishihara Osamu
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of obstetrics and gynaecology research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.597
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1447-0756
pISSN - 1341-8076
DOI - 10.1111/jog.12437
Subject(s) - medicine , pregnancy , cardiomyopathy , obstetrics , work up , peripartum cardiomyopathy , heart failure , cardiology , genetics , biology
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy ( TCM ) primarily affects postmenopausal women and is an important differential diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome. We describe a rare case of post‐partum TCM , and present a published work review of the cases of pregnancy‐associated TCM . A 24‐year‐old Japanese woman pregnant with twins suffered from premature membrane rupture at 31 gestational weeks. Following emergency cesarean delivery, she complained of sudden dyspnea. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed an inverted Takotsubo pattern (ejection fraction, 46%). On post‐delivery day 8, wall motion abnormalities subsided, and she was discharged on post‐delivery day 16. We reviewed 18 relevant cases of peripartum TCM from the published work. Among them, 16 cases were post‐partum and two cases occurred during pregnancy. Most women (81%) underwent cesarean delivery, and the first symptoms of TCM appeared during surgery in 38% of the cases. The dominant symptoms were chest pain (44%) and dyspnea (28%). Most cases (94%) exhibited electrocardiogram abnormalities, including ST changes and T ‐wave inversion. Serum levels of cardiac enzymes were abnormally high in 92% of the cases. Repeated echocardiography documented normalized left ventricular systolic function within 6 months in all cases. This case and review emphasize that TCM may be concealed in post‐partum women by symptoms undistinguishable from acute coronary syndrome, peripartum cardiomyopathy or pulmonary thromboembolism, and that echocardiography may be a useful tool to distinguish them.