Takotsubo cardiomyopathy triggered by lateral wall ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction

We herein report the case of a 72-year-old female with a lateral wall acute myocardial infarction (MI) complicated by takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC). The patient presented with "severe" chest pain lasting for one hour. She did not experience any obvious emotional or physical stress preceding the chest pain. An admission electrocardiogram showed ST-segment elevation in leads I, aVL, and V₆ and ST-segment depression in leads II, III, aVF, and V₁. Emergent coronary angiography showed total occlusion of the obtuse marginal branch. Subsequently, primary percutaneous old balloon angioplasty followed by everolimus-eluting stenting was performed. Left ventriculography performed immediately after final coronary angiography revealed hypokinesis in the lateral wall and mid-ventricular ballooning. The electrocardiographic findings and left ventricular wall motion later normalized. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging showed late gadolinium enhancement in the lateral wall. In conclusion, to the best of our knowledge, this is the second case report of TC triggered by an acute MI, which provides further evidence that an acute MI can potentially trigger TC. <Learning objective: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC) usually develops after exposure to an acute emotional or physical stressor in postmenopausal females. There is only one case report of TC triggered by an acute myocardial infarction (MI), a condition that is frequently associated with emotional stress. This second case report of TC triggered by an acute MI provides further evidence that an acute MI can potentially trigger TC.>.