Prevalence and consequences of vitamin D insufficiency in women with takotsubo cardiomyopathy.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence and clinical consequences of vitamin D insufficiency in patients with takotsubo cardiomyopathy.
BACKGROUND: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a syndrome of acute, transient left ventricular dysfunction seen predominantly in postmenopausal women after acute emotional or physical stress. Postmenopausal women have a high prevalence of bone and musculoskeletal consequences related to hypovitaminosis D. Although rickets is known to cause a reversible dilated cardiomyopathy in children, the importance of vitamin D for adult cardiovascular health is less understood.
METHODS: We prospectively identified patients diagnosed with takotsubo cardiomyopathy at Danbury Hospital from April 2009 through January 2011, collected demographic, clinical, laboratory, and angiographic data, and performed serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D levels during the index hospitalization. Vitamin D insufficiency was defined as serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D less than 30 ng/mL. We compared parameters of myocardial damage and heart failure between patients with and without vitamin D insufficiency. A χ² test and a Student's t test were used for categorical and continuous variables, respectively. Statistical significance was set at P < .05 (2 tailed).
RESULTS: Twenty-seven women were diagnosed with takotsubo cardiomyopathy during the study period. The mean age was 67.4 years (SD 10.4). The serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were performed on 25 patients, and 17 of these had hypovitaminosis D (68%). A comparison of laboratory and imaging parameters between the 2 groups revealed that patients with hypovitaminosis D had a slightly higher mean left ventricular end-diastolic pressure and lower mean left ventricular ejection fraction (P < .05), suggestive of slightly worse heart failure.
CONCLUSIONS: Women diagnosed with takotsubo cardiomyopathy have a high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency. In our prospective study of 25 women with takotsubo cardiomyopathy, this was associated with worse hemodynamic parameters.