Tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy (apical ballooning)

n recent years, a new cardiac syndrome with transient left ventricular dysfunction has been described in Japanese patients. This new entity has been referred to as ''tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy'' or ''apical ballooning'', named for the particular shape of the end-systolic left ventricle in ventriculography. 1 To date, tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy has also been reported to occur in the western population. The following clinical characteristics of this phenomenon must be met: (1) transient akinesis or dyskinesis of left ventricular wall motion abnormalities (ballooning) with chest pain; (2) new electrocardiographic changes (either ST elevation or T wave inversion); (3) no significant obstructive epicardial coronary artery disease; (4) absence of recent significant head trauma, intracardial bleeding, phaeochromocytoma, myocarditis, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. motional or physical stress usually precedes this cardiomyopathy. A unifying mechanistic explanation responsible for this acute but rapidly reversible contractile dysfunction is still lacking. ]