Coronary vasospasm is an unlikely cause of Takotsubo syndrome, although we should keep an open mind

John E. Madias

Research output: Contribution to journalEditorial

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

This viewpoint pertains to the still elusive pathophysiology of the Takotsubo syndrome (TTS), maintaining the position that this affliction is not the result of coronary vasospasm (CV) involving one or more coronary arteries. Although CV has been rarely encountered in the acute stage of TTS, or elicited via provocative testing in the subacute stage of the disease, it does not appear to be the cause of TTS as shown by the bulk of the published relevant literature. The author provides some speculations to explain the spontaneous appearance of CV, or its artificial elicitation, in some patients with TTS. However while we are striving to unravel the pathophysiology of TTS, we should keep an open mind about a possible role for CV in the causation of TTS.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-5
Number of pages5
JournalInternational Journal of Cardiology
Volume176
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2014

Keywords

  • Coronary vasospasm
  • Coronary vasospasm provocative testing
  • Microvascular dysfunction
  • Pathogenesis of Takotsubo syndrome
  • Takotsubo syndrome

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