Journal international de recherche cardiovasculaire

Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy ? Acute Myocarditis ? or Both? Not so Easy to Diagnose in Certain Settings

Kenan Yalta, Mustafa Yılmaztepe, Fatih Ucar and Cafer Zorkun

In clinical practice, there exists a significant clinical overlap between takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC) and myocarditis potentially creating a diagnostic challenge particularly in the setting of forme-fruste manifestations. Moreover, these two conditions may occasionally co-exist possibly rendering the ultimate diagnosis even more complicated. On the other hand, since TTC and myocarditis have different prognostic and therapeutic implications, clinicians should make every effort to reach a definitive diagnosis. The present paper primarily aims to discuss differential features of these two conditions along with the diagnostic value of certain sophisticated tools including cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), etc. in this setting.