Broken lung and broken heart: a case of right pneumothorax resulting in Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC), also known as broken-heart syndrome, is usually the result of a stressful event. It is more common in postmenopausal females and can mimic an acute coronary syndrome. We report the case of an elderly female who presented with acute chest pain and ECG changes suggestive of an acute myocardial infarction, but later was found to have right-sided pneumothorax with TC. The case highlights the growing interest in stress cardiomyopathy and its variable modes of presentation. It also reminds us that the acute chest pain of a pneumothorax can closely mimic a coronary event with similar electrocardiographic changes.

Citation

Anupam Kumar, Santosh Padala, Donna Chelle Morales, Heather Swales. Broken lung and broken heart: a case of right pneumothorax resulting in Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Connecticut medicine. 2013 Feb;77(2):99-102

Mesh Tags

PMID: 23513639

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