REBEL Core Cast 20.0 – October 31, 2019 - By Anand Swaminathan
"Take Home Points - Stress cardiomyopathy looks like ACS/STEMI, with patient presenting with chest pain, dyspnea or maybe syncope. It looks like ACS and should be treated as such until you prove to yourself it’s not.
- Classic patient is an older woman with chest pain or syncope after a stressful event.
- Bedside echo will show left ventricular dysfunction with one of a variety of patterns of wall motion abnormality. The most common is apical, but there are also variant patterns including mid-ventricular, basal, focal and global.
- Watch for QTc prolongation as this could precipitate an arrhythmia. Be sure to stop all QT prolonging meds and replete magnesium
- Consider the differential in the patient who has cardiogenic shock because the treatment differs. Avoid catecholamines and if you need inotropic support use dobutamine or dopamine. Look for evidence of left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction, as this should be treated like a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with beta blockers rather than inotropes."