Abstract

ROJAS JIMENEZ, SARA  and  LOPERA VALLE, JOHAN SEBASTIÁN. Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, the great imitator of acute myocardial infarction. CES Med. [online]. 2012, vol.26, n.1, pp.107-120. ISSN 0120-8705.

Approximately 2% of the cases of acute coronary syndrome actually correspond to another diagnostic entity known as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC), whose recognition by physicians is crucial due to the high incidence of myocardial infarction in our community. TTC is characterized by transient dysfunction, of hours to weeks, of the left ventricle, which develops a pattern of unique and abnormal movement that can´t be explained due to others pathologies like coronary ischemia, aortic injury, miocarditis, among others. Its name is derived of the typical morphology of octopus pot (TakoTsubo) that acquires the left ventricle when it´s observed through echocardiography or ventriculography. These patients present signs and symptoms clinically identical to acute coronary syndrome, along with electrocardiographic alterations and elevated cardiac biomarkers. It has a bigger frequency in middle-age women (between 50 and 70 years old), and it´s generally precipitated by severe physical or psychological stress. Neither the etiology nor the exact pathophysiological mechanisms of TTC are clearly known, but in the last two decades a number of theories have been formulated that today are object of investigations. Despite the existence of serious conclusions in favor of these theories, there are many inconsistencies that impede the determination of a valid etiology for every case. Besides the more precise explanation about the pathophysiological ways, this paper extends some concepts related to the diagnosis, treatment, complications and prognosis of the clinical entity

Keywords : Takotsubo cardiomyopathy; Myocardial infarction; Heart failure; Short review.

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