an unusual presentation of takotsubo cardiomyopathy: a case report

Tachyarrhythmias have been well-defined in patients with takotsubo cardiomyopathy (ttcm) and are estimated to occur in almost 13.5% of patients. however, limited data are available on bradyarrhythmias in patients with ttcm. the pathophysiology, clinical implications, and management are not well defined in this subgroup. we describe a 53-year-old woman presenting with complete heart block with ttcm and a 73-year-old woman presenting with syncope with complete heart block with ttcm. both had persistent conduction delays despite recovery of ventricular function and eventually required permanent pacemaker implantation. the dependency on pacing was up to 90% in both patients at a 6-month follow-up.