Neurological Disorders in Takotsubo Syndrome: Clinical Phenotypes and Outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Neurological disorders as a risk factor for Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) are not well characterized. The aim of the study was to evaluate TTS-associated neurological phenotypes and outcome. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients with TTS enrolled in the international multicenter GEIST (German Italian Spanish Takotsubo) registry were analyzed. Prevalence, clinical characteristics, and short- and long-term outcomes of patients with TTS were recorded. A subgroup analysis of the 5 most represented neurological disorders was performed. In total, 400 (17%) of 2301 patients had neurological disorders. The most represented neurological conditions were previous cerebrovascular events (39%), followed by neurodegenerative disorders (30.7%), migraine (10%), epilepsy (9.5%), and brain tumors (5%). During hospitalization, patients with neurological disorders had longer in-hospital stay (8 [interquartile range, 5-12] versus 6 [interquartile range, 5-9] days; P<0.01) and more often experienced in-hospital complications (27% versus 16%; P=0.01) mainly driven by cardiogenic shock and in-hospital death (12% versus 7.6% and 6.5% versus 2.8%, respectively; both P<0.01). Survival analysis showed a higher mortality rate in neurological patients both at 60 days and long-term (8.8% versus 3.4% and 23.5% versus 10.1%, respectively; both P<0.01). Neurological disorder was an independent predictor of both the 60-day and long-term mortality rate (odds ratio, 1.78 [95% CI, 1.07-2.97]; P=0.02; hazard ratio, 1.72 [95% CI, 1.33-2.22]; both P<0.001). Patients with neurodegenerative disorders had the worst prognosis among the neurological disease subgroups, whereas patients with TTS with migraine had a favorable prognosis (long-term mortality rates, 29.2% and 9.7%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Neurological disorders identify a high-risk TTS subgroup for enhanced short- and long-term mortality rate. Careful recognition of neurological disorders and phenotype is therefore needed.

Long-term prognostic impact of beta-blockers in patients with Takotsubo syndrome: Results from the RETAKO Registry.

BACKGROUND: No evidence-based therapy has yet been established for Takotsubo syndrome (TTS). Given the putative harmful effects of catecholamines in patients with TTS, beta-blockers may potentially decrease the intensity of the detrimental cardiac effects in those patients. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of beta-blocker therapy on long-term mortality and TTS recurrence. METHODS: The cohort study used the national Spanish Registry on TakoTsubo Syndrome (RETAKO). A total of 970 TTS post-discharge survivors, without pheochromocytoma, left ventricular outflow tract obstruction, sustained ventricular arrhythmias, and significant bradyarrhythmias, between January 1, 2003, and July 31, 2018, were assessed. Cox regression analysis and inverse probability weighting (IPW) propensity score analysis were used to evaluate the association between beta-blocker therapy and survival free of TTS recurrence. RESULTS: From 970 TTS patients, 582 (60.0%) received beta-blockers. During a mean follow-up of 2.5±3.3 years, there were 87 deaths (3.6 per 100 patients/year) and 29 TTS recurrences (1.2 per 100 patient/year). There was no significant difference in follow-up mortality or TTS recurrence in unadjusted and adjusted Cox analysis (hazard ratio [HR] 0.86, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.59-1.27, and 0.95, 95% CI 0.57-1.13, respectively). After weighting and adjusting by IPW, differences in one-year survival free of TTS recurrence between patients treated and untreated with beta-blockers were not found (average treatment effect -0.01, 95% CI -0.07 to 0.04; p=0.621). CONCLUSIONS: In this observational nationwide study from Spain, there was no significant association between beta-blocker therapy and follow-up survival free of TTS recurrence.

Short- and Long-Term Prognostic Relevance of Cardiogenic Shock in Takotsubo Syndrome: Results From the RETAKO Registry.

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to describe the incidence, determinants, and prognostic impact of cardiogenic shock (CS) in takotsubo syndrome (TTS). BACKGROUND: TTS can be associated with severe hemodynamic instability. The prognostic implication of CS has not been well characterized in large studies of TTS. METHODS: We analyzed patients with a definitive TTS diagnosis (modified Mayo criteria) who were recruited for the National RETAKO (Registry on Takotsubo Syndrome) trial from 2003 to 2016. Cox and competing risk regression models were used to identify factors associated with mortality and recurrences. RESULTS: A total of 711 patients were included, 81 (11.4%) of whom developed CS. Male sex, QTc interval prolongation, lower left ventricular ejection fraction at admission, physical triggers, and presence of "a significant" left intraventricular pressure gradient, were associated with CS (C index = 0.85). In-hospital complication rates, including mortality, were significantly higher in patients with CS. Over a median follow-up of 284 days (interquartile range: 94 to 929 days), CS was the strongest independent predictor of long-term, all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR]: 5.38; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.60 to 8.38); cardiovascular (CV) death (sub-HR: 4.29; 95% CI: 2.40 to 21.2), and non-CV death (sub-HR: 3.34; 95% CI: 1.70 to 6.53), whereas no significant difference in the recurrence rate was observed between groups (sub-HR: 0.76; 95% CI: 0.10 to 5.95). Among patients with CS, those who received beta-blockers at hospital discharge experienced lower 1-year mortality compared with those who did not receive a beta-blocker (HR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.44 to 0.79; pinteraction = 0.043). CONCLUSIONS: CS is not uncommon and is associated with worse short- and long-term prognosis in TTS. CS complicating TTS may constitute a marker of underlying disease severity and could identify a masked heart failure phenotype with increased vulnerability to catecholamine-mediated myocardial stunning.

Psycho-emotional disorders as incoming risk factors for myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries.

BACKGROUND: There is an emerging field underlying the myocardial infarction (MI) with non-obstruc-tive coronary arteries (MINOCA). The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of psycho-emotional disorders and social habits in MINOCA patients. METHODS: The study included 95 consecutive patients diagnosed of MINOCA and 178 patients with MI and obstructive lesions. MINOCA patients were included when they fulfilled the three main criteria: accomplishment of the Third Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction, absence of obstructive coronary arteries and no clinically overt specific cause for the acute presentation. RESULTS: MINOCA patients had a higher frequency of previous psychiatric illnesses than the obstructive coronary arteries group (29.7% vs. 12.9%, p = 0.001). MINOCA patients recognized emotional stress in 75.7% of the cases, while only 32.1% of the obstructive related group did (p < 0.001). The relation-ship remained after excluding takotsubo syndrome from the analysis (26 cases, 27.4%): psychiatric diseases (27.9% vs. 12.9%, p < 0.01) and recognition of emotional stress (70.8% vs. 32.1%, p < 0.001). Social habits which could act as stress modulating showed no significant relation with MINOCA. CONCLUSIONS: Psycho-emotional disorders are related to MINOCA and they could act as risk fac-tor. This relationship is maintained after excluding takotsubo from the analysis. (Cardiol J 2018; 25, 1: 24-31).