We describe a 76-year-old patient with takotsubo cardiomyopathy complicated by cardiac tamponade. Pericardial effusion in takotsubo cardiomyopthy is common but a cardiac tamponade is very rare. The use of anticoagulants may increase the risk of pericardial effusion and should be considered with care.

BACKGROUND Due to the rise in the number of reports of stress cardiomyopathy in the literature, awareness of this condition is increasing. Although different names have been used to describe this condition, the similarities in clinical, electrocardiographic, echocardiographic, and angiographic features suggest that they represent the same spectrum of diseases with different underlying causes. T...

Transient left ventricular apical ballooning syndrome is characterized by transient akinesis of the left ventricular apex with basal wall hyperkinesis; this is also known as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. There are three distinct contractile LV patterns described in the literature: apical, midventricular, and basal ballooning. The apical ballooning pattern is the most frequent pattern. We describe t...

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, also called stress-induced cardiomyopathy, usually occurs in patients with severe emotional or physiologic stress. The prognosis is favorable, and the wall motion abnormlities normalize within weeks. However, stress-induced cardiomyopathy is rarely assosicated with left ventricular thrombus and thromboembolic complications. Here, we report a case of stress-induced card...

Since the first report in 1990, takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC) has been increasingly recognized as a novel form of nonischemic acute cardiomyopathy. It is an important differential in diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) due to its similar presentation. However, it distinguishes itself from an ACS in the fact that regional wall motion abnormalities extend beyond a single coronary vascular...

We present the case of an 84-year-old woman admitted for Takotsubo cardiomyopathy complicated by congestive heart failure. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging was performed on day five and confirmed severely depressed left ventricular systolic function with typical apical ballooning. In steady-state free precession long-axis cine imaging, a basal inferior myocardial cleft was also o...

A 46-year-old female under treatment with flecainide for atrial fibrillation developed cardiopulmonary arrest secondary to ventricular fibrillation during an elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The ECG after cardioversion demonstrated a prolonged QTc interval with elevated cardiac enzymes. A diagnosis of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy was made after angiography demonstrated normal coronary arterie...

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is usually described following acute emotional stress. We report here the case of a 48-year-old woman admitted for acute coronary syndrome after an intensive squash match. Diagnosis of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy due to acute physical stress was suspected in presence of normal coronary arteries and transitory left ventricular dysfunction with typical apical ballooning. Car...

Stress-induced cardiomyopathy is characterized by transient left ventricular dysfunction, usually followed by complete resolution. It is precipitated by severe stress, and the most common variant (takotsubo) is marked by apical hypokinesis and ballooning with basal hyperkinesis. Serotonin syndrome is best understood as excess serotonergic activity in the central and peripheral nervous system. T...

A 78-year-old woman presented to our emergency room because of complete atrioventricular block. The patient experienced significant psychophysical stress during pacemaker implantation due to fear of operation. Acute lung edema occurred four hours after permanent pacemaker implantation. Coronary angiography showed no significant coronary artery stenosis and left ventriculography revealed typical...