Four-year recurrence rate and prognosis of the apical ballooning syndrome.

OBJECTIVES This study sought to assess the long-term prognosis of patients with apical ballooning syndrome (ABS). BACKGROUND Apical ballooning syndrome is a recently described acute cardiac syndrome of uncertain etiology and prognosis. METHODS We retrospectively identified 100 unselected patients with a confirmed diagnosis of ABS by angiography. Recurrences of ABS and mortality were recorded. RESULTS Over a mean follow-up of 4.4 +/- 4.6 years, 31 patients continued to have episodes of chest pain and 10 patients had recurrence of ABS, for a recurrence rate of 11.4% over the first 4 years. Seventeen patients died in 4.7 +/- 4.8 years of follow-up. There was no difference in survival or in cardiovascular survival to an age- and gender-matched population. CONCLUSIONS The recurrence rate for ABS was 11.4% over 4 years after initial presentation. Recurrence of chest pain is common. Four-year survival was not different from that in an age-matched and gender-matched population.