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Can a broken heart hurt physically? It turns out that it is. People who experience sudden and severe stress or other emotional state may experience physical pain that is similar to acute coronary pain. The researchers explained how unfulfilled love or other traumatic events make us feel as if we literally “broke our hearts”. Unfortunately, this is a condition that really affects how the heart functions and can be very dangerous.
Broken heart syndrome (stress cardiomyopathy, takotsubo syndrome, tip baller syndrome)
Although there are several names describing this phenomenon, they are all about the same ailment. It is a temporary disorder classified by medics as a cardiomyopathy. Broken heart syndrome is a group of symptoms caused by a temporary disruption of left ventricular systolic function. Importantly, the condition for such a medical diagnosis is the absence of atherosclerotic changes in the coronary vessels.
The takotsubo team was first described by the Japanese Hikaru Sato together with his partners in 1990. The name takotsubo is not related to love, but means a vessel used to catch octopuses, with a characteristic shape: a large round bottom and a narrow neck, which resembles the cardiomyopathy described in imaging studies.
According to the data, about 1-2 percent. diagnosed acute coronary syndromes turns out to be in fact the ballot tip assembly. The group most at risk of developing this disorder are women over 60 years of age.
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Takotsubo syndrome – causes
The mechanism of this disorder is not fully known. According to the research carried out, the most likely cause of the appearance Stress cardiomyopathy is a biochemical reactionaffected by:
- defective coronary microcirculation,
- effect of catecholamines on the heart muscle.
In response to a very strong stress stimulus (both mental and physical), there is a sudden burst of catecholamines in the body, causing cardiomyopathy in response. Difficult life situations can trigger a reaction: death of a loved one, breakup, financial troubles, natural disasters, etc. events. They can have an equally significant impact on the appearance of symptoms of the broken heart syndrome purely physical stressors, for example severe abdominal pain. Some cases of takotsubo syndrome do not correlate with any stressful events.
Broken heart syndrome – symptoms
The symptoms of takotsubo syndrome can be very disturbing and may resemble those of a heart attack or acute coronary syndrome. Most often, patients report:
- sharp chest pain
- palpitations,
- shortness of breath
- nausea and vomiting
- fainting.
In no case should you ignore such signals of the body and seek medical help as soon as possible. The most dangerous complications of stress cardiomyopathy include sudden cardiac arrest and cardiogenic shock.
How to recognize broken heart syndrome?
Not only broken heart syndrome symptoms they resemble a range of coronary ailments. Also, the results of the conducted studies may be confusingly similar to the results obtained in patients in the course of acute coronary syndromes. On ECG, takotsubo syndrome presents similarly to myocardial infarction – ST segment elevation, Q wave appearance and T wave inversion.
In blood biochemistry, you can detect markers characteristic of acute coronary syndrome. Occurrence troponin – a slave marker for myocardial infarction – it is quite short-lived. However, there is clearly an increase natriuretic peptides, attesting to heart failure and circulatory system failure. This test may be used to differentiate the tip balloting syndrome from other abnormalities.
The decisive diagnostic test is the imaging of the heart, i.e. echo. Given the nature of the disorder, the so-called ballot tip, caused by impaired contractility of the left ventricle. The most common disorder is hypokinesia (reduced frequency of contractions) or akinesia (no contractions) in the middle of the left ventricle and its apex.
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Stress cardiomyopathy – treatment and prognosis
In the case of broken heart syndrome, treatment is limited to symptomatic treatment with the use of pharmacological agents. Beta-blockers and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors are most often used in therapy. In the event of pulmonary edema or congestive heart failure, diuretics (diuretics) are required. Prophylactic treatment may be initiated with anticoagulation.
The prognosis of patients diagnosed with takotsubo syndrome is very good. As much as 95 percent patients return to full physical function within a few weeks of the event. Much depends on the course of the disease and the complications it induces.
The most dangerous complications include:
- acute heart failure with pulmonary edema,
- acute heart mitral valve regurgitation,
- cardiogenic shock,
- ventricular arrhythmias,
- rupture of the free heart wall.
Mortality remains low and does not exceed 3%. diagnoses. Once healed, the left ventricle resumes its normal and regular function. Broken heart syndrome is rarely a recurring disease, with only a few percent of cases occurring.
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