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Pheochromocytoma-related ‘classic’ takotsubo cardiomyopathy

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 24, pages 363–366 (2010)Cite this article

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We report a case of a 53-year-old hypertensive male with takotsubo cardiomyopathy in the setting of pheochromocytoma. Pheochromocytoma presenting as takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a recognized but uncommon occurrence with recently increasing number of published cases. We present typical apical ballooning syndrome, with transient left ventricular apical ballooning in contrast to several reports, in which patients with pheochromocytoma-induced cardiomyopathy had so called ‘inverted’ takotsubo cardiomyopathy. In patients being diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome symptoms without coronary artery stenosis or spasm, and pronounced blood pressure variability, pheochromocytoma-induced takotsubo or ‘inverted’ takotsubo cardiomyopathy should be kept in mind.

A 53-year-old Caucasian man was admitted to the intensive care unit with a 1.5-h history of retrosternal chest pain, dyspnoea, epigastric discomfort, nausea and vomiting. He had a history of systemic arterial hypertension, complicated by ischaemic stroke in 2006. His blood pressure was well controlled until the preceding week, when he started to complain of intermittent headaches, sweating, pallor and blood pressure elevation up to 180/110 mm Hg.

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Acknowledgements

PZ, AJ and AP are receiving a grant ‘Mistrz Programme’ from the Foundation for Polish Science.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hypertension, Institute of Cardiology, Warsaw, Poland

    P Zieleń, A Januszewicz, A Prejbisz, M Kabat & M Pęczkowska

  2. Department of Congenital Heart Disease, Institute of Cardiology, Warsaw, Poland

    A Klisiewicz & P Hoffman

  3. Department of Acquired Heart Disease, Institute of Cardiology, Warsaw, Poland

    J Stępińska

Authors
  1. P Zieleń
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  2. A Klisiewicz
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  3. A Januszewicz
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  4. A Prejbisz
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  5. M Kabat
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  6. M Pęczkowska
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  7. J Stępińska
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  8. P Hoffman
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Correspondence to A Januszewicz.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the Journal of Human Hypertension website

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Zieleń, P., Klisiewicz, A., Januszewicz, A. et al. Pheochromocytoma-related ‘classic’ takotsubo cardiomyopathy. J Hum Hypertens 24, 363–366 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2009.115

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