Wetenschapsforum

The damaging effects of stress on the cardiovascular system are widely documented and accepted by the general public and the medical community. A specific syndrome of stress-related reversible cardiomyopathy, however, has recently been observed with greater frequency. Increasingly referred to as the “broken heart syndrome,” this condition mimics myocardial infarction in patients without obstructive coronary artery disease

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• “Broken heart syndrome,” or takotsubo cardiomyopathy, is a spontaneously reversible form of cardiomyopathy that is often induced by emotional or physical stress.

• Signs and symptoms include chest pain, dyspnea, electrocardiographic changes, and elevated levels of cardiac biomarkers.

• Patients often have signs and symptoms of fluid overload and can have acute pulmonary edema.

•Most patients are post-menopausal women, many with no risk factors for coronary artery disease.

• The left ventricular abnor mality reverses spontaneously in days or weeks.