Prevalence and Impact of Takotsubo Syndrome in Hospitalizations for
Acute Ischemic Stroke
Abstract
Background: Takotsubo Syndrome (TTS) is characterized by acute and
reversible left ventricular dysfunction with apical ballooning arising
during acute stress situations. Acute Ischemic Stroke (AIS) is one of
the known triggers to TTS, however, the impact of TTS on in-hospital
outcomes of AIS remains unexplored. Methods: We utilized data from the
National Inpatient Sample (2007-2014) and using ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes
to identify admissions for AIS with TTS and evaluated the temporal
trends, baseline characteristics, in-hospital complications, length of
stay (LOS) and all-cause mortality. Survey multivariable logistic
regression was used to compute adjusted Odds Ratios (OR and 95%
confidence intervals (CI). Results: An estimated 2,242 (0.4%) TTS cases
were identified among AIS hospitalizations (N=43,92,471). The frequency
of TTS was higher in elderly, whites and females (82.2%). After
adjustment for confounders, TTS incidence in AIS was associated with
higher odds of in-hospital complications including cardiogenic shock
(OR8.84, CI:4.07-19.17, p<0.001), cardiac arrest (OR3.17,
CI:1.57-6.42, p=0.001), and venous thromboembolism (OR1.68,
CI:1.14-2.47, p=0.008). Moreover, AIS hospitalizations with TTS showed
higher odds of developing respiratory failure (OR3.13, CI:2.42-4.05,
p<0.001) and required mechanical ventilation/intubation
(OR4.09, CI:3.14-5.32, p<0.001) more frequently compared to
non-TTS cohort. The AIS-TTS cohort had longer LOS (8.59 vs 5.22 days)
and the mortality was doubled (10.2% vs 5.1% p<0.001)
compared to those without TTS. Conclusion: The prevalence of TTS in AIS
remained ~20 times higher than the general inpatient
population and it predisposed AIS patients to worse inpatient outcomes.
Further studies are needed to evaluate the impact of TTS on long-term
outcomes in AIS.