When Grief Strains the Heart: A Case of Reverse Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy Triggered by Mourning and Respiratory Failure

03 September 2026 : Case report USA

Rare disease

Peter Cwalina^{ABCDEF 1*}, Ibrahim Rahmatullah^{DE 2}, Ayesha Samad^{ABCDEF 2}, Adam S. Budzikowski^{CDE 3}

DOI: 10.12659/AJCR.952896

Am J Case Rep 2026; 27:e952896

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Table 2 Application of modified Mayo Clinic criteria.

Modified Mayo Clinic criterion	Findings in present case	Status
Transient LV hypokinesis, akinesis, or dyskinesis extending beyond a single vascular territory	TTE showed basal hypokinesis with apical sparing; ventriculography confirmed reverse takotsubo pattern; follow-up echocardiography showed LVEF improvement from 40% to 60%	Met
Absence of obstructive CAD or acute plaque rupture	Coronary angiography showed no culprit obstructive lesion with prior LAD stent patent	Met
New ECG abnormalities or modest troponin elevation	ST-T changes on ECG with troponin rise from 56 ng/L to peak 1928 ng/L	Met
Absence of pheochromocytoma and myocarditis	No clinical evidence of pheochromocytoma but myocarditis not definitively excluded	Partially met (Limitation in lack of cardiac MRI)

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