4th
“Broken Heart” Not Just a Figure of Speech?
Heart “A” displays the characteristic ballooning of a “broken heart”—aka, a heart suffering from Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.
Dr. Steven Goldstein, my mentor at the Georgetown-affiliated Washington Hospital Center, oversaw a fascinating echocardiography conference today.
I was particularly interested in the lecture delivered on Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, commonly termed “Broken Heart Syndrome.” Apparently, often in response to the death of a loved one, an individual suffers a sudden weakening of their heart (see above, where “A” is a Takotsubo sufferer). The characteristic manifestation of Takotsubo is the “ballooning” of the apex of the heart. The trigger seems to be high levels of circulating catecholamines, such as adrenaline. Dr. Goldstein and the other physicians debated about differential diagnosis of the disorder, as, apparently, the EKG of a Takotsubo sufferer looks much like that of someone who has just experienced a heart attack. There was also discussion about the role that beta blockers ought to play in the treatment of Takotsubo syndrome, with some doctors arguing for their use and some against. Much of the discussion went over my head, but to be sure, it was fascinating to see that the stuff of storybooks does indeed have a clinical and physiological manifestation, at least in some people. (Though I’d be remiss if I didn’t admit that the patient being discussed had Takotsubo on account of an overdose of their asthma medicine, Albuterol, rather than from the death of their prince Charming…)
