Stress cardiomyopathies beyond Takotsubo: does a common catecholaminergic pathophysiology fit all?

Diagnostic criteria for Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC) still remains a matter of debate. The similarities between cardiac dysfunction which complicates cerebrovascular events and ‘typical’ TTC let us hypothesize that the current diagnostic criteria of TTC need to be widened. Moreover, clinical, histological and scintigraphic similarities have been robustly reported between TTC and other Takotsubo-like syndromes, and we agree that central to this unifying hypothesis is a catecholamine surge which triggers the abnormality in left ventricular contraction. Given these overlapping features, we propose that the terms ‘acute ballooning cardiomyopathy’ or ‘catecholamine-induced stress cardiomyopathy’ could be used to refer to these conditions in the future.