The Role of Stress in Stable Patients with Takotsubo Syndrome—Does the Trigger Matter?

Abstract

Background: Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is a unique type of reversible cardiomyopathy that predominantly affects elderly women. The role of physical and emotional stress in the pathophysiology of TTS is well established. However, the association between preceding emotional triggers and clinical outcomes in stable patients has not yet been fully investigated. We aimed to investigate the association between emotional triggers before symptom onset and clinical outcomes in stable patients with TTS. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study based on the data of patients with ICD-9 discharge diagnosis of TTS between 2017 and 2022. Patients were divided into two groups: with and without obvious emotional trigger before symptom onset. Demographic, laboratory, echocardiographic, and clinical outcomes were obtained and compared between the two groups. Results: We included 86 patients (93% were women, mean age 68.8 ± 12.3 years). Of them, 64 (74.4%) reported an emotional trigger before symptom onset. Patients with a previous emotional trigger had a longer hospital stay (4.3 + 2.0 days vs. 3.0 + 1.4, p = 0.002) with no difference in in-hospital complications (32.8% vs. 13.6%, p = 0.069), with no difference in 30-day mortality, readmissions, or recurrence rate between the groups. Conclusions: Patients with TTS related to an emotional trigger may represent a different population from patients without a preceding trigger by having more symptomatic disease and longer hospital stay, yet with no difference in the 30-day outcomes.