Wednesday February 24, 2010


Q: What is takotsubo cardiomyopathy?


Answer: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, also known as broken-heart-syndrome, or simply stress cardiomyopathy, is a type of non-ischemic cardiomyopathy.

The hallmark of the disease is bulging out of the apex of the heart with preserved function of the base that earned the syndrome its name "tako tsubo", or octopus trap in Japan, where it was first described.The cause appears to involve high circulating levels of catecholamines. If individual survives their initial presentation, patient usually improves within 2 months. For unknown reason - Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is more commonly seen in post-menopausal women.