Dislocated spine, damaged heart: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy following acute cervical spine injury

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TCM) is a self-resolving cardiac dysfunction that has been rarely described after spinal injury. We describe a patient with acute cervical spinal cord injury who presented with hypotension, electrocardiogram changes, and regional wall motion abnormalities on echocardiogram. Although the picture was initially suggestive of a coronary event, with an echocardiogram, a diagnosis of TCM was established. Coronary angiograms were also normal. Over time, the patient had improvement in her echocardiographic and hemodynamic parameters that enabled surgery to be performed safely. We also review previous such cases and hypothesize the reasons for the rarity of this pathology in cervical spinal cord injury.