Peri-operative Takotsubo syndrome after non-cardiac surgery: a retrospective nested case-control study

Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is an acute reversible cardiac dysfunction that may occur during the peri-operative period and among patients with serious illness. We aimed to evaluate the clinical characteristics, peri-operative management, and prognosis of peri-operative TTS (pTTS) and explore the factors associated with pTTS.

We conducted a retrospective nested case-control study using the database of patients who underwent in-hospital non-cardiac surgeries between January 2017 and December 2020 in Peking University Third hospital. Cases were adult patients diagnosed TTS at discharge who were matched with four controls based on operative types. Multivariable conditional logistic regression was used to identified the factors associated with pTTS. The area under the curve (AUC) was used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy.

Among the 128 536 patients underwent non-cardiac surgery, 20 patients with pTTS and 80 patients without were enrolled in this study. The incidence of pTTS was about 0.016% in our centre. The median age of patients with pTTS was 52.5 (38.25, 76.25) years, although 90% of them were female. Fifty per cent (9 cases) of female patients were pre-menopausal. Caesarean section has the highest proportion of pTTS (30% of the pTTS cases) with the incidence of caesarean section-related pTTS of 0.06% in our centre. A high prevalence of non-apical ballooning pattern of regional wall motion abnormality (seven cases, 35%) and a high mortality (two cases, 10%) were observed. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of patients with pTTS was significantly decreased (41.7 ± 8.8%). In the acute phase, supportive treatments aiming to reduce life-threatening complications were main treatment strategies. After receiving systematic treatment, significant improvements were observed in LVEF (63.1 ± 13.5%), with median recovery time of LVEF of 7.48 days. Leucocyte count [odds ratio (OR): 4.59; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.10-19.15], haemoglobin (HGB) (OR: 10.52; 95% CI: 1.04-106.36), and the revised cardiac risk index (RCRI) score (OR: 6.30; 95% CI: 1.05-37.88) were the factors significantly associated with pTTS. The RCRI score performed poorly in the prediction of pTTS (AUC: 0.630; 95% CI: 0.525-0.735). After adding leucocyte count and HGB into the RCRI score, the AUC was significantly improved (AUC: 0.768; 95% CI: 0.671-0.865; P = 0.001).

Patients with pTTS have some differences compared with common TTS, including higher proportion of pre-menopausal female, higher prevalence during caesarean section, higher prevalence of non-apical ballooning pattern of regional wall motion abnormality, and higher mortality. The RCRI score performed poorly in the evaluation of pTTS. Adding HGB and leucocyte count into the RCRI score could significantly improve its predictive performance.