A dynamic variant of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy mimicking apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: a case report

Following emotional stress, takotsubo cardiomyopathy is understood caused by various mechanisms: catecholamine surge, inflammation, or transient ischaemia event leading to dysregulated cellular mechanisms. This results in myocardial oedema and increased wall stiffness leading to non-type 1 coronary plaque event-related regional wall motion abnormalities.In this instance, the initial two cMRI studies reported morphological features consistent with apical HCM, however, a subsequent examination demonstrated resolution of these features. The key to delineating these distinct pathologies lies in myocardial T1 times that exceeded what is normally observed in HCM, the absence of late gadolinium enhancement and ECV values which favour takotsubo cardiomyopathy.