Dying from a broken heart is not just an expression: people can die from the pain they feel for the loss of love. So-called broken heart syndromeAs a result of the stress one feels when someone close to them dies, it is technically called stress cardiomyopathy or Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, and cases have increased during the coronavirus pandemic, suggests a study by researchers from the Cleveland Clinic.
The researchers sought to determine whether the psychological, social and economic stress caused by the coronavirus is associated with the incidence of stress cardiomyopathy.
The researchers looked at 1,914 patients with acute coronary syndrome from two Cleveland Clinic health system hospitals who underwent coronary arteriography, a procedure that involves injecting a dye to track blood flow through the arteries. They compared patients who experienced the syndrome during the COVID-19 pandemic with patients from periods before the pandemic.
The study, published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open, found a significant increase in cases of “broken heart syndrome” during the pandemic. Stress cardiomyopathy was diagnosed in 20 patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, an incidence of 7.8%, compared to pre-pandemic incidences ranging from 1.5% to 1.8%, according to the study.
The study also found that patients with stress cardiomyopathy during the COVID-19 pandemic had longer hospital stays compared to those hospitalized in the pre-pandemic period. However, there was no significant difference between the mortality rate of the patients during the COVID-19 period and the general pre-COVID-19 period.
The authors of the Cleveland Clinic study admit that it has some limitations: the sample only represents the Northeast Ohio population, and “the results should be interpreted with caution when applied to other states or countries,” the authors wrote.
“Broken heart syndrome” was first identified in Japan about 25 years ago. According to a study published in the American Journal of Cardiology, about 6,230 cases were reported in the US in 2012, and there have been some famous cases of the “broken heart syndrome” that made the news.
When Debbie Reynolds died a day after her daughter, Carrie Fisher, many speculated on the mother. died of a broken heart. While Reynolds’ cause of death was a stroke, her son Todd Fisher said his sister’s death was “too much” for her.
“She said, ‘I want to be with Carrie,'” she told The Associated Press after her death in December 2016.
Stress cardiomyopathy can feel like a heart attack, said Dr. Harmony Reynolds, a cardiologist at NYU Langone Medical Center in 2016. “The changes on the EKG look like a heart attack … the blood test will show that there’s a heart attack, “Reynolds said.
However, there are some differences between the two. Unlike a typical heart attack where the arteries of the heart are blocked, in cases of “broken heart syndrome“The arteries are open, however damage to the heart muscle can be more extensive than a typical heart attack.
Another difference is that, unlike a heart attack, if the patient survives the incident, the heart returns to normal, Reynolds said.
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