Takotsubo cardiomyopathy after intravenous epinephrine administration following cardiac arrest provoked by pneumoperitoneum - a case report.

In stress-induced takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC) high levels of catecholamines, including epinephrine, may be detected in blood. On the other hand, administration of exogenous epinephrine may occasionally result in TC.

A CASE REPORT: The authors describe a case of a 58-year-old, otherwise healthy female, with TC which occurred after intravenous injection of 1 mg of epinephrine against cardiac arrest provoked by pneumoperitoneum performed before planned laparoscopic cholecystectomy. She was admitted 3 days earlier due to biliary colic following a dietary mistake. Bradycardia followed by asystole took place immediately after carbon dioxide insufflation into the peritoneal cavity. Normal heart rhythm, with transient tachycardia, recurred after a short cardiac massage, intravenous atropine and epinephrine administration as well as pneumoperitoneum decompression. ECG after the episode showed nonspecific ST segment changes. Left ventricular dysfunction assessed in echocardiography as contractile abnormalities and decreased global longitudinal strain (GLS) represented an unusual type of TC - intermediate between mid-basal and focal one. These abnormalities, involving mainly the posterior wall, resolved rapidly within 24 hours without any specific treatment. The absence of coronary artery disease was confirmed by 128-row multidetector computed tomography. TC should be considered as a potential complication of epinephrine action; however, different factors related to laparoscopic procedure including general anesthesia, intubation, underlying disease and mental stress might have been also involved in TC triggering in the case presented.