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World J Cardiol. Sep 26, 2017; 9(9): 723-730
Published online Sep 26, 2017. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v9.i9.723
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy: Pathophysiology and role of cardiac biomarkers in differential diagnosis
Prabhakaran Gopalakrishnan, Ramsha Zaidi, Muhammad Rizwan Sardar
Prabhakaran Gopalakrishnan, Ramsha Zaidi, Muhammad Rizwan Sardar, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Aultman Hospital, Canton, OH 44710, United States
Author contributions: Gopalakrishnan P performed literature review and manuscript writing; Zaidi R contributed to literature review; Sardar MR edited the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Muhammad Rizwan Sardar, MD, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Aultman Hospital, 2600 6th St SW, Canton, OH 44710, United States. m.rizwan.sardar@aultman.com
Telephone: +1-330-3639263 Fax: +1-330-5805513
Received: February 18, 2017
Peer-review started: February 20, 2017
First decision: March 27, 2017
Revised: May 10, 2017
Accepted: May 22, 2017
Article in press: May 24, 2017
Published online: September 26, 2017
Processing time: 218 Days and 14.9 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC) characterized by reversible ventricular dysfunction is frequently mistaken for acute anterior wall myocardial infarction often leading to avoidable cardiac catheterizations. While several clinical clues differentiate TC and acute coronary syndrome (ACS), a clinical diagnosis still remains elusive. We review the pathophysiology and diagnosis of TC with a focus on role of cardiac biomarkers [natriuretic peptides - brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and NT-proBNP and cardiac myonecrosis markers - Troponin, CKMB and Myoglobin]. We have done a review of several studies looking at diagnostic utility of cardiac biomarkers in differentiating TC and ACS.