Stress cardiomyopathy, Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, or acute neurocardiogenic heart failure syndrome?

Abstract

Since its first description in Japan in 1990, Takotsubo syndrome, or stress cardiomyopathy (sCMO), goes by many monikers.¹ The sCMO syndrome is characterised by a form of acute reversible myocardial injury characterised by transient regional systolic left ventricular  (LV) dysfunction in a non-coronary distribution.² The current definition is that of a clinical syndrome characterised by i) an acute and transient (< 21 days) LV dysfunction that ii) may be related to an emotional or physical stressful event, and iii) the presence of LV regional wall motion abnormalities extending beyond a single coronary artery distribution. This syndrome is now recognised with increasing frequency, with a prevalence of 1–2% of patients presenting with an acute coronary syndrome (ACS).^2,3