Acute appendicitis as an unexpected cause of inverted takotsubo cardiomyopathy

• Main Authors: Mihaela Mihalcea-Danciu, Michel Zupan, Pierrick Le Borgne, Pascal Bilbault
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2018-01-01
• Series: Journal of Emergencies, Trauma and Shock
• Subjects: Appendicitis; idioventricular rhythm; takotsubo cardiomyopathy
• Online Access: http://www.onlinejets.org/article.asp?issn=0974-2700;year=2018;volume=11;issue=2;spage=143;epage=145;aulast=

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC), also known as transient left ventricular ballooning syndrome, is a stress-induced-cardiomyopathy. It is precipitated by emotional or physical stress and is characterized by normal coronary arteries and transient regional wall motion abnormalities. Variants of TTC include apical ballooning syndrome and, less commonly, mid, basal, and local variants. New onset heart failure or acute coronary syndromes are a common presentation of TTC. Arrhythmias such as VT, VF, and torsade de pointes have also been reported. We present here a 42-year-old man with an inverted Takotsubo variant with pulmonary edema and transient accelerated idioventricular rhythm. He was initially admitted in the Emergency Department for acute and non-complicated appendicitis. Coronary angiogram showed normal coronary arteries and left ventriculography revealed a reverse variant of TTC. The patient had completely recovered. Myocarditis was ruled out by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.