%0 Journal Article %A Spadotto, Veronica %A Elmaghawry, Mohamed %A Zorzi, Alessandro %A Migliore, Federico %A Marra, Martina Perazzolo %T Apical ballooning with mid-ventricular obstruction: the many faces of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy %D 2013 %J Global Cardiology Science and Practice, %V 2013 %N 2 %@ 2305-7823 %C 22 %R https://doi.org/10.5339/gcsp.2013.22 %K myocardial edema %K cardiomyopathy %K electrocardiogram %K T-waves %K stress-induced %K Takotsubo %I Hamad bin Khalifa University Press (HBKU Press), %X Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC) is a transient left ventricular dysfunction due to akinesia of the left-ventricular (LV) mid-apical segments (apical ballooning), which can cause severe reduction in LV systolic function. The typical clinical picture of TTC include chest pain, electrocardiographic changes consisting of mild ST-segment elevation followed by diffuse deep T-wave inversion, QTc interval prolongation and mild troponin release in the absence of significant coronary stenoses. The syndrome often affects post-menopausal women and is triggered by sympathetic overstimulation, like intense physical or emotional stress, so that it is called the “broken heart syndrome”. Although left-ventricular systolic dysfunction usually fully recovers within few days, heart failure can still complicate the early phase. We report a case of stress-induced cardiomyopathy that had full recovery after 4 weeks of follow up. The main electrocardiographic, angiographic and imaging features are discussed. %U https://www.qscience.com/content/journals/10.5339/gcsp.2013.22