[Takotsubo cardiomiopathy in the context of a general anaesthesia - Case report]

Takotsubo cardiomiopathy was first described in 1900 by Sato et al and reported in the anaesthetic literature by Mizutani et al and Takigawa et al in 20061,4. Doron Gavish et al. were the first to publish a case report concerning a general anaesthesia. This rare syndrome results in an acute, reversible left ventricule dysfunction in the absence of an obstructive coronary disease1-3 and mimics an acute coronary syndrome. We report the clinical case of a 66 years old man, without relevant medical history, who underwent an elective inguinal hernia repair. During anesthetic emergence, the patient started with hemodynamic instability, followed by a cardiorespiratory arrest. Electrocardiographic changes were compatible with an acute myocardial infarction. The patient also revealed cardiac enzymes elevation, normal coronary angiography and severe left ventricule dysfunction and motility wall changes on ventriculogram, both typical of Takotsubo cardiomiopathy. With this case report we intend to divulge an event of this rare miocardiopathy in an anaesthetic-surgical context, probably related to physical and emotional distress.