Stress-induced transient midventricular ballooning: a new variant of broken heart syndrome

Abstract

A 72-year-old female patient admitted to the emergency department with substernal chest pain due to vigorous emotional stress. Her electrocardiogram revealed negative T waves in DI, aVL, and V-1 to V-3 derivations, and she had an elevated troponin level. Cardiac catheterization was performed and showed angiographically normal epicardial coronary arteries. The left ventriculogram demonstrated midventricular dilatation and akinesis with a hypercontractile apex and base. We report a case of new variant of broken heart syndrome in which only the midventricle is affected.