Contrast Echocardiography Evaluation of Microcirculation of Myocardial Infarction Caused by Takotsubo Syndrome: Case Report and Literature Review

Abstract

Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is also known as stress cardiomyopathy (SCM) or apical ballooning syndrome (ABS). TTS is reversible cardiomyopathy with a good prognosis. Although the patients have chest pain and ECG changes with typical acute myocardial infarction, they have angiographically normal coronary arteries or mild atherosclerosis. TTS can cause microcirculation dysfunction, leading to myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary atherosclerosis (MINOCA). Myocardial Contrast Echocardiography (MCE) can detect MINOCA caused by TTS by evaluating myocardial microcirculation. We report a case of MINOCA caused by TTS using MCE to evaluate myocardial ischemia in the subendocardial myocardium.

Keywords

• |myocardial infarction|non-obstructive coronary atherosclerosis|takotsubo syndrome|myocardial contrast echocardiography