Coincidence of Apical Ballooning Syndrome (Tako-Tsubo/Stress Cardiomyopathy) and Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome: Potential Common Substrate and Pathophysiology?

ABS and PRES can occur simultaneously during an acute illness. Patients with ABS who develop neurologic dysfunction should be evaluated for PRES and vice versa. Because transient sympathetic overactivity and microvascular dysfunction have been observed in both reversible syndromes, we speculate that they may represent the shared pathophysiologic mechanism.