Published online Jul 28, 2014. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v6.i7.502
Revised: May 28, 2014
Accepted: June 14, 2014
Published online: July 28, 2014
Processing time: 190 Days and 16.4 Hours
Core tip: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a cardiac syndrome with symptoms similar to acute myocardial infarction (MI) including chest pain and electrocardiographic changes, in absence of coronary artery stenosis. This syndrome is characterized by reversible wall-motion abnormalities involving apical and midportion of left ventricle. In the acute phase it is clinically indistinguishable from acute MI but, recently, myocardial positron emission tomography have demonstrated to delineate this syndrome from acute coronary artery disease, also offering a new pathophysiological explanation for this particular syndrome. This clinical review aimed to summarise the most significant experiences on the use of myocardial positron emission tomography in Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.