CASE REPORT article
Front. Cardiovasc. Med.
Sec. Cardiovascular Imaging
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2025.1608992
This article is part of the Research TopicCardiovascular Imaging Case Reports 2025: Emphasizing Uncommon Clinical ScenariosView all 3 articles
Case Report: Stepwise Noninvasive Diagnosis of Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy in an Elderly Patient-From ECG Clues to Echocardiographic and CTA Confirmation
Provisionally accepted
- 1the First people’s Hospital of Lianyungang, the First Affiliated Hospital of Kangda College of Nanjing Medical University, lianyungang, China
- 2the Second People’s Hospital of Lianyungang, Affiliated to Kangda College of Nanjing Medical University, Lianyungang, China
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Background: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC) is frequently misdiagnosed as acute coronary syndrome in elderly patients. This case demonstrates how ECG findings facilitate a noninvasive diagnostic algorithm for TTC, validated by echocardiography and coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA).Case Summary: An 88-year-old woman presented with chest tightness and dyspnea after emotional stress (bereavement). Initial ECGs showed the concurrent appearance of ST-segment elevations in anterior (V3-V5) and inferior leads (II, III, aVF), suggesting apical injury and the diagnosis of TTC. Bedside echocardiography revealed apical akinesis with preserved basal contraction (LVEF 35%), while CCTA ruled out obstructive disease. Supportive therapy led to symptom resolution. At 1-year follow-up, LVEF recovered to 61% with normalized ECG.Conclusion: This case highlights ECG's pivotal role in suspecting TTC, enabling a Noninvasive diagnostic approach (echocardiography + CCTA) for elderly patients.Keywords: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, noninvasive diagnosis, elderly, ECG, coronary CTA
Keywords: Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy, Noninvasive diagnosis, Elderly, ECG, coronary CTA
Received: 09 Apr 2025; Accepted: 12 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Teng, Sun, Wang, Wang and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yilian Wang, the Second People’s Hospital of Lianyungang, Affiliated to Kangda College of Nanjing Medical University, Lianyungang, China
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