IMR Press / RCM / Volume 24 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.31083/j.rcm2401019
Open Access Review
Takotsubo Syndrome: The Secret Crosstalk between Heart and Brain
Show Less
1 Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Rome “Tor Vergata'', 00133 Rome, Italy
2 Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome “Tor Vergata'', 00133 Rome, Italy
3 Department of Medical and Surgery Sciences, University of Foggia, 71122 Foggia, Italy
*Correspondence: enrica@dottoressamariano.it (Enrica Giuliana Mariano)
Academic Editor: Jerome L. Fleg
Rev. Cardiovasc. Med. 2023, 24(1), 19; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.rcm2401019
Submitted: 1 July 2022 | Revised: 26 November 2022 | Accepted: 30 November 2022 | Published: 10 January 2023
Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

An acute, transient episode of left ventricular dysfunction characterizes Takotsubo syndrome. It represents about 2% of all cases of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), and occurs predominantly in postmenopausal women, generally following a significant physical or emotional stressor. It can be diagnosed based on clinical symptoms and the absence of coronary artery disease on angiography. Ventriculography remains the gold standard for the diagnosis. Despite its transitory characteristic Takotsubo syndrome should not be considered a benign condition since complications occur in almost half of the patients, and the mortality rate reaches 4–5%. Lately, it has been revealed that Takotsubo syndrome can also lead to permanent myocardial damage due to the massive release of catecholamines that leads to myocardial dysfunction. Different mechanisms have been advanced to explain this fascinating syndrome, such as plaque rupture and thrombosis, coronary spasm, microcirculatory dysfunction, catecholamine toxicity, and activation of myocardial survival pathways. Here are still several issues with Takotsubo syndrome that need to be investigated: the complex relationship between the heart and the brain, the risk of permanent myocardial damage, and the impairment of cardiomyocyte. Our review aims to elucidate the pathophysiology and the mechanisms underlying this complex disease to manage the diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms to create a functional synergy between physicians and patients.

Keywords
Takotsubo
cardiomyopathy
broken heart syndrome
stress-induced cardiomyopathy
Figures
Fig. 1.
Share
Back to top