A Case Report on Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy

A 71-year-old female with a past medical history of hypertension, seizure disorder, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary artery disease, chronic kidney disease, open abdominal aortic aneurysm repair complicated by spinal cord infarction resulting in lower extremity paraparesis with chronic urinary retention, and sacral decubitus ulcer initially presented to the emergency department (ED) complaining of a one-week history of chest pain. During her inpatient stay, acute myocardial infarction and pulmonary embolism were ruled out and the patient was hemodynamically stable for discharge until she started experiencing new-onset nausea and dyspnea. Bedside electrocardiogram demonstrated ST elevations in the anterior leads with concomitant T-wave inversions in the inferolateral leads as well as a prolonged QTc. Troponin-HS was elevated at 907.69. Bedside transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) demonstrated a severely decreased left ventricular ejection fraction of 10%-15% (representing an acute decrease from a left ventricular ejection fraction of 55%-60% from a TTE performed seven days prior). Cardiac catheterization demonstrated mild non-obstructive coronary artery disease and no interventions were conducted. Such signs and symptoms of acute myocardial infarction, without demonstrable coronary artery stenosis, are consistent with stress induced or Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. This phenomenon occurs in approximately 1%-2% of patients presenting with troponin-positive suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or suspected ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).