Recurrent apical ballooning despite treatment with verapamil

To report a case of recurrent tako-tsubo syndrome that developed despite treatment with calcium channel antagonists.

A 76-year-old woman with past medical history of ischemic heart disease and mild chronic asthma presented in 2001 with clinical characteristics and laboratory markers consistent with myocardial ischemia. Coronary angiogram was done with successful balloon angioplasty to LAD stenosis. Ventriculogram and echocardiography demonstrated apical ballooning believed to represent aneurysm formation. Several months later, a follow-up echocardiogram (ECG) revealed normal LV size and function with no wall motion abnormalities. ECG was unremarkable. In 2004, the patient was admitted with dyspnea, chest pain and ST elevation in ECG with normal troponin. Coronary angiogram demonstrated patent coronary tree. Left ventriculogram revealed apical ballooning sparing the base of the heart. Medically controlling the asthma attack led to clinical, echocardiographic and remarkable electrocardiographic normalization within days. Rest thallium perfusion scan done within 48 h demonstrated isolated fully reversible defect in the apex after 24 h suggesting a microvessel etiology.

Tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy is an increasingly recognized condition. We report here the first case of tako-tsubo recurrence despite treatment with verapamil, and suggest a microvessel pathophysiology supported by rest thallium scan.