A 24-year-old man with acute myelogenous leukaemia and a history of anthracycline treatment is hospitalised for non-anthracycline chemotherapy. He develops new-onset heart failure requiring intesive care unit (ICU) admission during his stay. There is debate as to the aetiology of his heart failure, whether anthracycline cardiotoxicity or takotsubo syndrome. He is diuresed and discharged home with close follow-up. Ultimately, the retrospective use of two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography derived strain helps diagnose reverse takotsubo syndrome.

Introduction: Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is an acute heart failure syndrome that leads to significant morbidity and mortality. We sought to evaluate the association of cardiac mechanics on presentation with in-hospital adverse outcomes in patients with apical TTS. Methods:We retrospectively identified 468 patients with TTS based on ICD-9/10 codes between 2006 and 2017. The association of echocardiographic parameters with a composite outcome of heart failure and all-cause mortality during the index hospitalization was analyzed. Results:One hundred and forty one patients with the apical subtype and adequate imaging were included. 113 (80.1%) were female, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was 41.7% ± 12.4%, and global longitudinal strain was −10.1% ± 3.2%. The composite outcome occurred in 58 patients (41%), with heart failure occurring in 55 patients and death occurring in nine patients. Global longitudinal strain, global circumferential strain, global radial strain, right ventricular fractional area change, tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion, and right ventricular free wall strain were significantly worse in patients who experienced the composite outcome in univariate analyses. However, only LVEF was independently associated with the composite outcome in multivariable-adjusted analysis. Conclusions:In patients with apical TTS, the strain has limited prognostic utility in the acute setting compared to LVEF, which was the only echocardiographic parameter associated with in-hospital heart failure and all-cause mortality.

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Introduction Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is characterized by transient left ventricular dysfunction and associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. We sought to evaluate the association between change in cardiac mechanics after diagnosis of TTS with 1‐year incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). Methods We retrospectively identified 85 patients with apical TTS based on ICD 9/10 codes and chart adjudication, who had a follow‐up echocardiogram within 6 months of diagnosis. Echocardiograms were analyzed for left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), global longitudinal strain (GLS), GLS ratio, global circumferential strain (GCS), and global radial strain (GRS). Multivariable logistic regression was performed to identify parameters associated with MACE (all‐cause mortality, heart failure, stroke, and coronary artery disease [CAD] requiring percutaneous coronary intervention [PCI]) at 1 year. Event‐free survival was assessed in patients with GLS (≤−18% vs. >18%) and LVEF (≥53% vs. <53%). Results Within 1 year of diagnosis, MACE occurred in 15 (18%) patients. Between baseline and follow‐up echocardiogram (median 15 [range 1–151] days), there were significant differences in change in LVEF and GLS in patients with versus without incident MACE. In multivariate analysis, change in LVEF (odds ratio [OR] = .93 [.87, .98], p = .013) and change in GLS (OR = 1.32 [1.04, 1.67], p = .022) were independently associated with MACE; however, the association with change in GLS was attenuated (odds ratio [OR] = 1.13 [.94, 1.36], p = .21) after adjustment for baseline and change in LVEF. Among patients with normalized LVEF at follow‐up, there were five (14.7%) MACE; whereas, there were no events among patients with normalized GLS. Conclusions In patients with apical TTS, recovery in GLS and LVEF at follow‐up was associated with significantly lower MACE at 1 year. Normalization of GLS at follow‐up was better able to discriminate event‐free survival than normalization of LVEF.