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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffBroken heart syndrome is a temporary heart condition brought on by stressful situations, such as the death of a loved one. Many people who have broken heart syndrome may have sudden chest pain or may think they're having a heart attack. These broken heart syndrome symptoms may be brought on by the heart's reaction to a surge of stress hormones. In broken heart syndrome, a part of your heart temporarily enlarges, a condition called cardiomyopathy.
First described medically in 1991 by Japanese doctors, the condition was originally called takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Takotsubo is a type of pot used by Japanese fishermen to capture octopuses. When doctors take X-ray images of a person who's experiencing broken heart syndrome, part of his or her heart resembles the pot. Today, the condition is also referred to as stress cardiomyopathy, stress-induced cardiomyopathy or apical ballooning syndrome.
Broken heart syndrome is treatable, and usually requires about a week to recover.
- Reeder GS. Stress-induced (takotsubo) cardiomyopathy. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Jan. 12, 2009.
- Wittstein IS, et al. Neurohumoral features of myocardial stunning due to sudden emotional stress. New England Journal of Medicine. 2005;352:539.
- Wittstein IS. The broken heart syndrome. Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine. 2007;7:S17.
- Gianni M, et al. Apical ballooning syndrome or takotsubo cardiomyopathy: A systematic review. European Heart Journal. 2006;27:1523.
- Merli E, et al. Tako-Tsubo cardiomyopathy: New insights into the possible underlying pathophysiology. European Journal of Echocardiography. 2006;7:53.
- Prasad A (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic. Rochester, Minn. Jan. 19, 2009.
