Unpredictability of Ventricular Arrhythmias in Takotsubo Syndrome: Echocardiography to the Rescue!

Ventricular arrhythmias (VA), that is, frequent ventricular premature complexes, monomorphic ventricular tachycardia, both nonsustained and sustained, torsades de pointes, ventricular fibrillation, and sudden cardiac death (SCD), are known to be frequent in patients with takotsubo syndrome (TTS), and are characterized by their unpredictability in regards to the timing of their occurrence during hospitalization.1 –6 Also, well known is the association of such VA with alterations of repolarization (negative T waves) and prolonged corrected QT-interval by the Bazzet formula (QTc), although VA are seen in patients with or without prolongation of the QTc.
Source: The American Journal of Cardiology - Category: Cardiology Authors: Source Type: research