Alterations in Cardiac Deformation, Timing of Contraction and Relaxation, and Early Myocardial Fibrosis Accompany the Apparent Recovery of Acute Stress-Induced (Takotsubo) Cardiomyopathy: An End to the Concept of Transience

In patients with the most clinically severe spectrum of takotsubo cardiomyopathy, regional LV systolic and diastolic deformation abnormalities persist beyond the acute event, despite normalization of global LV ejection fraction and size. In addition, although myocardial edema partly subsides, a process of global microscopic fibrosis develops in its place, detected as early as 4 months.