BACKGROUND The natural history, management, and outcome of takotsubo (stress) cardiomyopathy are incompletely understood. METHODS The International Takotsubo Registry, a consortium of 26 centers in Europe and the United States, was established to investigate clinical features, prognostic predictors, and outcome of takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Patients were compared with age-and sex-matched patients who had an acute coronary syndrome. RESULTS Of 1750 patients with takotsubo cardiomyopathy, 89.8% were women (mean age, 66.8 years). Emotional triggers were not as common as physical triggers (27.7% vs. 36.0%), and 28.5% of patients had no evident trigger. Among patients with takotsubo cardiomyopathy, as compared with an acute coronary syndrome, rates of neurologic or psychiatric disorders were higher (55.8% vs. 25.7%) and the mean left ventricular ejection fraction was markedly lower (40.7±11.2% vs. 51.5±12.3%) (P<0.001 for both comparisons). Rates of severe in-hospital complications including shock and death were similar in the two groups (P=0.93). Physical triggers, acute neurologic or psychiatric diseases, high troponin levels, and a low ejection fraction on admission were independent predictors for in-hospital complications. During long-term follow-up, the rate of major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events was 9.9% per patient-year, and the rate of death was 5.6% per patient-year. CONCLUSIONS Patients with takotsubo cardiomyopathy had a higher prevalence of neurologic or psychiatric disorders than did those with an acute coronary syndrome. This condition represents an acute heart failure syndrome with substantial morbidity and mortality. (Funded by the Mach-Gaensslen Foundation and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01947621.).

Rosuvastatin did not reduce the primary outcome or the number of deaths from any cause in older patients with systolic heart failure, although the drug did reduce the number of cardiovascular hospitalizations. The drug did not cause safety problems. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00206310.)

Myocarditis is an inflammatory disease of the heart frequently resulting from viral infections and/or post-viral immune-mediated responses. It is one of the important causes of dilated cardiomyopathy worldwide. The diagnosis is presumed on clinical presentation and noninvasive diagnostic methods such as cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging. Endomyocardial biopsy remains the gold standard for in vivo diagnosis of myocarditis. The therapeutic and prognostic benefits of endomyocardial biopsy results have recently been demonstrated in several clinical trials. Although remarkable advances in diagnosis, understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms, and treatment of acute myocarditis were gained during the last years, no standard treatment strategies could be defined as yet, apart from standard heart failure therapy and physical rest. In severe cases, mechanical support or heart transplantation may become necessary. There is some evidence that immunosuppressive and immunomodulating therapy are effective for chronic, virus-negative inflammatory cardiomyopathy. Further investigations by controlled, randomized studies are needed to definitively determine their role in the treatment of myocarditis.

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