A rare cause of takotsubo cardiomyopathy in the ICU

Case report: A 46-year old woman was transferred to the ICU with a rapid progressive circulatory failure of unknown origin. The personal history revealed a well-controlled arterial hypertension and a depression for the last couple of years. Debuting a few hours prior to admission, chest-pains nausea and vomiting lead treating physician to perform an ECG, which revealed an ST-elevation over the precordial leads. Myocardial infarction was suspected. The acute coronary angiography showed normal coronary arteries, but a severely compromised left-ventricular (LV) function with the typical shape of a takotsubo cardiom…