Citation

Angelini P (2018) Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy Pathophysiology May Also Affect the Gut. Int Arch Cardiovasc Dis 2:010. 10.23937/iacvd-2017/1710010

Copyright

© 2018 Angelini P, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

CASE REPORT | OPEN ACCESS DOI: 10.23937/iacvd-2017/1710010

Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy Pathophysiology May Also Affect the Gut

Paolo Angelini*

Department of Cardiology, Texas Heart Institute, Houston, Texas, USA

Abstract

In this report, we describe a patient who presented with transient acute abdomen before the onset of an acute myocardial ischemic event. Chest pain, dyspnea, and hypotension requiring vasopressors developed 2 days after the patient presented with paralytic ileus. Transient left-bundle-branch block and mildly elevated troponin and brain-natriuretic peptide levels occurred. Echocardiography and left ventricular angiography revealed extensive periapical akinesia and a left ventricular ejection fraction of 35% that soon returned to normal. This case illustrates the possibility that a common mechanism may help explain both transient functional events. We believe this presentation scenario could occur more frequently than usually assumed and should prompt further investigation in this regard.