Middle East Heart Congress

Stress cardiomyopathy, also referred to as broken heart syndrome, Takotsubo cardiomyopathy and apical ballooning syndrome, is a condition in which intense emotional or physical stress can cause rapid and severe heart muscle weakness (cardiomyopathy). Th is potentially life-threatening condition can occur following a variety of emotional stressors such as grief (e.g. death of a loved one), fear, extreme anger and surprise. It can also occur following numerous physical stressors to the body such as stroke, seizure, diffi culty breathing (such as a fl are of asthma or emphysema) or signifi cant bleeding. Similar to a heart attack, patients with stress cardiomyopathy can present with low blood pressure, congestive heart failure and even shock. But unlike a heart attack, which kills heart cells, it is believed that stress cardiomyopathy uses adrenaline and other hormones to temporarily stun heart cells. Fortunately, this stunning gets better very quickly, oft en within just a few days to a few weeks. So even though a person with stress cardiomyopathy can have severe heart muscle weakness at the time of admission to the hospital, the heart completely recovers within a couple of weeks in most cases and there is no permanent damage.