The Natural History of Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy

In the 25 years since first being described, takotsubo (stress) cardiomyopathy has gained increasing recognition as a common clinical entity. Despite this, our understanding of the natural history of takotsubo cardiomyopathy remains limited. The International Takotsubo Registry has been gathering data on takotsubo cases since 1998 and this publication describes their findings to date. Among 1,750 patients with takotsubo cardiomyopathy, 90% were women, the mean age was 66.8 years, and psychiatric or neurological disorders were common (56%). Approximately one-quarter of presentations were triggered by an emotional event, slightly more than one-third by a physical event, and the remainder had no identified trigger. Rates of in-hospital cardiogenic shock and death were similar to rates of these events in a matched …