Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Takotsubo syndrome (TS) mimics acute coronary syndrome (ACS) but has a distinct pathophysiology. While in-hospital adverse outcomes appear similar to those presenting with an ACS, data on longer term postdischarge risk are conflicting. This study sought to assess the long-term prognosis of patients discharged alive after TS. METHODS: The clinical profile and in-hospital and long-term outcomes were prospectively assessed in consecutive patients with TS. Survival in patients with TS was compared with two representative age-matched and gender-matched comparison cohorts: a hospitalised ACS cohort and a community cohort without known cardiovascular disease (CVD). RESULTS: Two hundred and-twenty-five patients with TS (216 women, mean age 63.7±11.8 years) were included. In-hospital mortality was 1.8% and 1.9% for patients with TS and ACS, respectively. Of the 219 patients with TS with postdischarge follow-up, at a mean follow-up of 4.8±3.2 years, there were 19 (8.3%) deaths, 18 of which were from non-cardiac causes. When compared with the cohort without prior CVD, postdischarge patients with TS were at increased mortality risk (HR 2.00, 95% CI 1.26 to 3.17, p=0.003), but mortality in postdischarge patients with ACS was over threefold higher (HR 3.43, 95% CI 2.97 to 3.96, p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: In-hospital mortality for patients diagnosed with TS and ACS was similar. However, while postdischarge survivors of TS had a long-term survival which was poorer than for a community-based cohort without known CVD, their survival was better than for postdischarge survivors of an ACS event. Late deaths in patients with TS were almost all from non-cardiac causes.