Background: The relationship between outcome and trigger in takotsubo syndrome (TTS) has been recently discussed, but the data are still limited. Methods and Results: We enrolled 745 consecutive patients with TTS from the Tokyo Cardiovascular Care Unit Network registry. The patients were divided into 4 groups based on trigger: (1) medical illness, 202 (27%); (2) physical activity, trauma and injury, 54 (7%); (3) emotional trigger, 199 (27%); and (4) unidentifiable trigger, 290 (39%). Compared with other groups, the medical illness group had the lowest percentage of female patients (68%, 85%, 89%, and 79%, respectively; P<0.001) and the highest mean patient age (75±11 years, 72±11, 73±12, and 75±11 years, respectively; P=0.02). In-hospital all-cause mortality was higher (11%) in this group (0%, 2%, and 2%, respectively; P<0.001). On multivariate logistic regression analysis, the medical illness group independently predicted all-cause death (OR, 4.73; 95% CI: 1.33-16.87); although there was no significant difference in cardiac deaths between the 4 groups. Conclusions: TTS has a wide spectrum of outcome depending on the trigger. The medical illness trigger was a powerful predictor of outcome but the main cause of death is not cardiac complication.
Keywords: In-hospital death; Stress; Takotsubo syndrome; Trigger.
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