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Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffThere are no standard treatment guidelines for treating broken heart syndrome. At first, it's treated similar to a heart attack until the diagnosis is clear. There is no specific therapy, and most people stay in the hospital while they recover, which takes about a week.
Your doctor will likely prescribe blood pressure medications for you to take while you're in the hospital, such as angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, beta blockers or diuretics. These medications help reduce the workload on your heart while you recover. Usually, your doctor will tell you to stop taking these medications once you recover.
Procedures that are often used to treat a heart attack, such as coronary angioplasty and stent placement, are not helpful in treating broken heart syndrome. These procedures treat blocked arteries, which are not the cause of broken heart syndrome.
- 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.
