SOURCE: MedPage Today
DATE: March 25, 3009
EXCERPT: "Stress cardiomyopathy, the so-called broken heart syndrome, can be precipitated by even routine procedures that involve catecholamines and beta-receptor agonists, ... The findings from this case series provide evidence that the effect of sudden, extreme emotional or physical stress on the heart is causally mediated by excessive sympathetic stimulation, the researchers said. The syndrome causes profound, but reversible cardiac dysfunction that feels and looks much like a heart attack.
The characteristic clinical features include mild cardiac enzyme elevation in the absence of obstructive coronary disease, a prolonged QTc interval and diffuse T-wave abnormalities on ECG, ventricular ballooning, and rapid recovery of LV systolic function.
Patients [in study] were primarily healthy (six of the nine had no cardiovascular risk factors) women (seven of the nine) with an average age of 44.
Occurrence is unlikely to be random, he said. Rather, individuals may be susceptible to catecholamine-mediated myocardial dysfunction because of sex hormones and genetic variability in myocardial signal transduction pathways." more
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Source reference:
Abraham TP, Liang HY. Stress echocardiography: diastole to the rescue. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2009 Feb 24;53(8):706-8. No abstract available.
SEE ALSO
News release Study Explores Link Between Emotional Stress and Cardiac Dysfunction
Source reference:
Wittstein IS, Thiemann DR, Lima JA, Baughman KL, Schulman SP, Gerstenblith G, Wu KC, Rade JJ, Bivalacqua TJ, Champion HC. Neurohumoral features of myocardial stunning due to sudden emotional stress. N Engl J Med. 2005 Feb 10;352(6):539-48.
