Intraoperative stress cardiomyopathy.

The authors discuss and present transesophageal echocardiographic images of intraoperative tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy in a female patient under general anesthesia. Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography was performed in an attempt to manage a sudden episode of hypotension and mild pulmonary edema coincidental with surgical incision. The suspected diagnosis of stress cardiomyopathy was confirmed by computed tomographic angiography and cardiac catheterization. The patient made a complete recovery. This case report stresses the utility of transesophageal echocardiography in the differential diagnosis of intraoperative hypotension and suspected acute coronary syndrome. Copyright (c) 2010 American Society of Echocardiography. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.