[Takotsubo cardiomyopathy manifesting as no reflow pattern in coronary flow by transthoracic Doppler echocardiography and prolonged recovery of regional left ventricular wall motion abnormality: a case report].

A 80-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of chest pain. Electrocardiography revealed ST segment elevation in the I, aVL, and V1-V5 leads. Echocardiography revealed left ventricular apical aneurysmal change with ejection fraction of 31%. Coronary angiography showed no abnormalities. Creatine kinase was not elevated in her clinical course. The diagnosis was takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Transthoracic Doppler echocardiography was performed on the 2nd hospital day. Coronary flow velocity pattern in the left anterior descending artery revealed shortened diastolic deceleration time (108 msec) and systolic retrograde flow. Asynergy of the left ventricle gradually improved, but still persisted slightly at 6 months after discharge. Most patients with takotsubo cardiomyopathy have normal coronary flow velocity pattern in the acute phase. In this case, no reflow pattern of coronary flow was observed during prolonged recovery from left ventricular regional wall motion abnormality.