Inflammation in takotsubo cardiomyopathy: insights from cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging.

<bold>Objective: </bold>Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC) is an increasingly recognised acute cardiac syndrome, whose underlying pathophysiological mechanisms remain unknown. Inflammation might play a role as this has been shown in endomyocardial biopsies. The aim of this study was to assess inflammatory parameters in patients with TTC using a comprehensive cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) approach.<bold>Methods: </bold>Thirty-seven patients with the suspected diagnosis of TTC underwent CMR. T2-weighted imaging to calculate the oedema ratio, T1-weighted imaging before and after contrast agent administration to calculate the global relative enhancement (gRE), and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) imaging were performed.<bold>Results: </bold>In 11 patients CMR revealed the diagnosis of myocardial infarction (n = 7; 19%) or myocarditis (n = 4; 11%) with typical patterns of LGE. In all other patients (n = 26; 70%), no LGE was detected consistent with the diagnosis of TTC. Of these, in 16 patients (62%) both inflammatory markers (oedema ratio and gRE) were elevated with concomitant pericardial effusion, indicating acute inflammation. Follow-up CMR after 3 months showed complete normalisation of left ventricular function and inflammatory parameters in the absence of LGE and pericardial effusion.<bold>Conclusion: </bold>This CMR study provides further insights into the pathophysiological mechanisms in TTC, supporting the contribution of an inflammatory process in the acute setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]