title: Transient left ventricular dysfunction under severe stress: brain-heart relationship revisited.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Transient left ventricular dysfunction in patients under emotional or physical stress, also known as tako-tsubo-like left ventricular dysfunction, has been recently been recognized as a distinct clinical entity. The aims of this review are to define this phenomenon and to explore its similarities to the left ventricular dysfunction seen in patients with acute brain injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  MEDLINE database, bibliographies of each citation for relevant articles, and consultation with clinical experts were used to examine the clinical picture of tako-tsubo-like left ventricular dysfunction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified case series and a systematic review that report on patients with this syndrome. This phenomenon occurs predominantly in female patients, presenting with a variety of ST-T segment changes and mildly elevated cardiac enzymes that mimic an acute coronary syndrome. The left ventricular dysfunction, typically showing a hyperkinetic basal region and an akinetic apical half of the ventricle, occurs in the absence of obstructed epicardial coronary arteries. The ventricular dysfunction usually resolves within weeks with a generally favorable prognosis. This phenomenon has similarities to that seen in patients with acute brain injury with regard to clinical presentation, pathology, and its reversible nature.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Transient left ventricular dysfunction occurs in the absence of obstructive epicardial coronary artery disease. In its broadest sense, this phenomenon may encompass a range of disorders including left ventricular dysfunction after central nervous system injury.
authors.affiliation: The Center for Research in Cardiovascular Interventions, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, Calif 94305-5637, USA.
authors.forename: Junya
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ako
authors.forename: Krishnankutty
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sudhir
authors.forename: H M Omar
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Farouque
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
mesh_terms: D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000150:complications*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology; D013577:Syndrome; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy