285 Biventricular Tako-Tsubosyndrome Associated With Syncope and Unconsciousness

Abstract

A 58-years old woman came to the emergency department due to syncope; she had been found lying on the ground in her residence. At the admission the patient was unconscious but had preserved blood pressure 120/80 mmHg. CT brain scan was negative for hemorrhage. Admission ECG showed a 52 b/m sinus bradycardia, elevated antero-septal ST segment and prolonged QT interval. Diagnosis of antero-septal STEMI was made and a coronary angiogram performed via right femoral access showed mild atheromasia in the absence of angiographically significant lesions. Bedside echocardiogram showed severe left ventricular dysfunction (LVEF 35%) with akinesia of apical and mid-ventricular segments. The right ventricle presented a marked hypocontractility of the apical region and a preserved kinetics of the basal portion (TAPSE 22 mm). There was also a moderate mitral regurgitation and a mild tricuspid regurgitation with a sPAP of 50 mmHg (40+10). On blood sampling, high-sensitivity troponin was slightly elevated (3950 pg/ml) and marked hyponatriemia (117 mmol/l) and slight hypokalemia (3.1 mmol/l) were noted. The echocardiogram on the third day showed an improvement in global and segmental kinetics of left ventricle with an estimated EF of 45% and persistence of a mild hypocontractility of the apex of right ventricle. During her hospital stay, her cognitive state gradually improved and she remained asymptomatic without evidence of arrhythmic events on monitoring. The ECG evolved on days with normalization of the ST-T tract, negative T wave in the anterior region and prolonged QTc interval. The pre-discharge echocardiogram showed a recovery of biventricular kinetics with an estimated EF of 50%. The presence of a transient abnormality in biventricular wall motion beyond a single epicardial coronary artery perfusion territory with new electrocardiographic change met the diagnostic criteria of Tako-tsubo Syndrome defined by Mayo Clinic criteria. The electrocardiogram on the day of discharge showed a 55 b/m sinus bradycardia with a negative T wave from V1 to V4. Tako-tsubo syndrome (TTS) is an acute and reversible left ventricular dysfunction that improves spontaneously within days or weeks and is often preceded by emotional or physical stress. Biventricular involvement in TTS is typically identified on imaging studies such as echocardiography and MRI. TTS with RV involvement is associated with a higher rate of in-hospital mortality and long-term adverse clinical events than isolated LV TTS. In our clinical case, biventricular involvement was associated with a severe clinical presentation (syncope and unconsciousness). This case shows that biventricular Tako-tsubo is a clinical scenario that requires intensive care monitoring and strict cardiological evaluation.