Takotsubo cardiomyopathy: do the genetics matter?

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC) is an enigmatic disease with a multifactorial and still unresolved pathogenesis. Recent experimental and clinical observation has suggested a role for genetics in the pathogenesis of TTC. Ethnic as well as seasonal variation in the prevalence of TTC is well described, but it is only recently that familial cases of TTC have been reported. In recent years technological advances in exome capture and DNA sequencing have offered clinicians a new opportunity to discover genetics-related disease. This article explores the role of genetic mechanisms that might explain or modulate the pathogenesis of TTC.