Happy heart syndrome mimicking acute pulmonary embolism and acute coronary syndrome

摘要

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC), also named as the “broken heart syndrome (BHS),” “apical ballooning syndrome,” or “stress-induced cardiomyopathy,” is characterized by transient left ventricular systolic dysfunction without an evidence of obstructive coronary artery disease ( ). Postmenopausal women account for approximately 90% of the cases ( ). Recent studies have shown that TC can be triggered by negative as well as positive life events, owing to which it is also known as the “happy heart syndrome” (HHS) ( ). However, it is frequently triggered by physically or emotionally stressful events such as the receipt of bad news; incidents of death, accidents, and natural disasters; or presence of complicated medical diseases as well as events including surgical procedures, sepsis, trauma, or cerebrovascular diseases ( ). Although acute pulmonary embolism has been listed as a potential contributor in TC, there are currently no case reports of TC mimicking acute pulmonary embolism in the literature. Here, we present a rare case of HHS mimicking acute pulmonary embolism that completely recovered with anticoagulant and diuretic therapies.