Echocardiography and cardiovascular magnetic resonance diagnostic role in Takotsubo cardiomyopathy

We presented the case of a diabetic 67-year old female patient suffering from “Takotsubo cardiomyopathy”. She arrived at the emergency department with severe chest pain soon after acute emotional and physical stress. The echocardiography performed in the acute phase showed balloon-like left ventricular wall motion abnormality with severe global dysfunction that showed complete normalization 4 days after the onset of symptoms. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance in the acute phase showed a small subendocardial hypo-perfusion area in the inferior wall (no longer present at the 3 week follow-up evaluation) and delayed hyperenhancement after administration of intravenous gadolinium in the same region that showed a significant reduction after 3 weeks.