title: Takotsubo cardiomiopathy after acute diarrhea.
abstract: Takotsubo cardiomyopaty is a recently described syndrome characterized by transient left ventricular dysfunction, mimicking an acute coronary syndrome and usually precipitated by a physical or emotional stress. We report the first case of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy after acute diarrhea in a man. It may be argued that severe diarrhea in predisposed individuals may cause an acute stress resulting in increased sympathetic activity leading to this syndrome. Probably the relationship between the adrenergic system and the heart is more complex than general thought and the stimuli which favor an autonomic imbalance and precipitate the syndrome are very disparate in clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, University of Palermo, Sicily, Italy. novog@unipa.it
authors.forename: Giuseppina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Novo
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferro
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fazio
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Coppola
authors.forename: Gianfranco
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ciaramitaro
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farinella
authors.forename: Antonino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rotolo
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caruso
authors.forename: Marilena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ferrandes
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Assennato
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Novo
mesh_terms: D054058:Acute Coronary Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis; D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000150:complications*; D004452:Echocardiography; D004562:Electrocardiography; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D054549:Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*