In a new study, researchers have found a big increase in patients experiencing stress cardiomyopathy, also known as broken heart syndrome, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The research was conducted by Cleveland Clinic scientists.
Stress cardiomyopathy occurs in response to physical or emotional distress and causes dysfunction or failure in the heart muscle.
Patients typically experience symptoms similar to a heart attack, such as chest pain and shortness of breath, but usually do not have acutely blocked coronary arteries.
The left ventricle of the heart, however, may show an enlargement.
Other symptoms include irregular heartbeat, fainting, low blood pressure, and cardiogenic shock (an inability of the heart to pump enough blood to meet the body’s demands due to the impact of stress hormones on the cells of the heart).
The team says the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about multiple levels of stress in people’s lives across the country and world.
People are not only worried about themselves or their families becoming ill, they are dealing with economic and emotional issues, societal problems, and potential loneliness and isolation.
The stress can have physical effects on the body and the heart, as evidenced by the increasing diagnoses of stress cardiomyopathy people are experiencing.
The causes of stress cardiomyopathy, also known as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, are not fully understood.
However, physicians believe that a person’s reaction to physically or emotionally stressful events causes a release of stress hormones that temporarily reduce the heart’s ability to pump—causing it to contract less efficiently or irregularly instead of in a steady, normal pattern.
In the study, the team looked at 258 patients with heart symptoms known as an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and compared them with four control groups of ACS patients prior to the pandemic.
They found a big increase in patients diagnosed with stress cardiomyopathy, reaching 7.8% compared with the pre-pandemic incidence of 1.7%.
Patients with stress cardiomyopathy during the COVID-19 pandemic had a longer length of hospital stay compared with those hospitalized in the pre-pandemic period.
However, there was no significant difference in mortality between the groups. All of the patients diagnosed with stress cardiomyopathy tested negative for COVID-19.
The team says while the pandemic continues to evolve, self-care during this difficult time is critical to heart health, and overall health.
For those who feel overwhelmed by stress, it’s important to reach out to their healthcare providers.
Exercise, meditation, and connecting with family and friends, while maintaining physical distance and safety measures, can also help relieve anxiety.
Patients with stress cardiomyopathy generally recover their heart function and recover in a matter of days or weeks, although the condition can occasionally cause major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events and rarely can be fatal.
Stress cardiomyopathy is typically treated with heart medications to lower blood pressure and slow the heart rate. Other medications may be prescribed to help manage stress.
One author of the study is Ankur Kalra, M.D., a Cleveland Clinic cardiologist.
The study is published in JAMA Network Open.
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