Tako-Tsubo Syndrome: A Cardioembolic Cause of Brain Infarction

309 Introduction Tako-tsubo means octopus trap in Japanese. Tako-tsubo syndrome (TS) is an acute cardiomyopathy, characterized by transient left-ventricular apical ballooning. TS is a new diagnostic entity, which mimics an acute myocardial infarction (MI), but is characterized by the absence of obstructive coronary artery disease [1] . It occurs mainly in postmenopausal women, and is frequently triggered by emotional stress. The precise incidence of TS is unknown, but up to 2.5% of all patients presenting with an initial primary diagnosis of an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) may have a TS [2–4] . This condition favors formation of an intracarCerebrovasc Dis 2010;29:309–310 DOI: 10.1159/000278698