Atypical variant stress (Takotsubo) cardiomyopathy associated with gastrointestinal illness: rapid normalisation of LV function.

A 34-year-old female with a diarrhoeal illness and palpitations was found to have an abnormal ECG and troponin T. Subsequent coronary angiography identified angiographically normal epicardial coronary arteries with moderate impairment of left ventricular systolic function due to mid-ventricular akinesis with apical hyperkinesis. Cardiac MRI, performed 1 week later, demonstrated complete resolution of ventricular dysfunction and a diagnosis of atypical variant stress cardiomyopathy, due to gastrointestinal illness, was proposed.