Takotsubo syndrome is an acute condition with symptoms similar to myocardial infarction that occurs after severe stress. An examination in the hospital reveals a temporary violation of pumping function, which does not cause irreversible damage to the heart muscle.
What are the symptoms of Takotsubo syndrome?
The disease usually begins suddenly with rapidly developing shortness of breath and severe chest pain. Patients may experience very serious breathing difficulties and seriously suffer in the acute phase.
Clinical symptoms cannot be distinguished from a heart attack without special examinations. Therefore, patients with these symptoms should be hospitalized immediately. ECG and blood tests are performed at the hospital, and finally, a contrast agent (coronarography) is also injected into the coronary arteries.
In a heart attack, a problem area appears in one or more coronary arteries, which are then directly blocked. With Takotsubo syndrome, the coronary arteries are normal.
When a contrast medium is introduced into the heart, a person sees that the heart is not moving normally. Parts of the heart muscle seem paralyzed and no longer work. As a result, the heart pumps less blood than usual into the body, which is called heart failure.
More than 80% of patients with this diagnosis are postmenopausal women, most often in the age group 60-75 years. However, the condition can also occur in men or young women. The reason for this unequal distribution between the sexes is unknown.
When does stress occur?
It turns out that more than 80% of patients experienced stress during the time preceding the disease. The most common form of stress, which acts as a trigger, is a mixture of physical and psychological stress.
Common causes are information about impending death, a new illness, or separation from a loved one. But Takotsubo syndrome can be caused by all kinds of stress, if its level is strong enough.
Severe stress leads to an increase in the production of adrenaline (stress hormone) and similar substances in the body. It is believed that it stimulates the heart excessively, which is manifested by subsequent fatigue and impaired cardiac function.
How is the disease treated?
In acute heart failure, patients are treated with a combination of oxygenation and various medications to facilitate heart function. In most patients, the symptoms are quickly relieved.
At the same time, it is important to work and weaken a strong reaction to stress. With such treatment, the overwhelming majority of normal heart function is restored after 1-4 weeks.
Complications and concomitant diseases of stress cardiomyopathy
The exact cause is transient heart dysfunction, which affects women more often than men. Broken heart syndrome can occur repeatedly and cause various complications. These include thromboembolism, cardiogenic shock, arrhythmia, and increased mortality.
Comparison of concomitant diseases and concomitant diseases such as atrial fibrillation, lung disease, diabetes mellitus, obesity and hypertension. Interestingly, more patients in the group with stressful myocardiopathy had carcinomas than in the heart attack group. One possible link will be clarified in further research.
What is the prognosis of the disease?
The vast majority of patients (98%) recover. However, in the acute phase, there is a risk of arrhythmia and sudden death. In an analysis of 136 patients with this disease, 3 patients (2%) died while in the hospital. Those who survived the acute phase, over time, cardiac activity normalizes.
With new episodes of stress, there is a danger of relapse. In this group of 136 patients, there were 10 people with a recurrence of the condition during the first 2 years after the first episode.
The results also suggest that patients have a slightly increased risk of other cardiovascular diseases or ischemic attacks. Therefore, it is recommended to control blood pressure and other risk factors.
