Catecholamines and broken heart syndrome: A look at nursing care

The aim of this review was to investigate the role of Catecholamines in the pathogenesis of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy and related nursing care.

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is an acute syndrome characterized by acute reversible systolic dysfunction of the apical and middle segments of the left ventricle in the absence of significant coronary artery occlusion. It is believed that emotional and physical stressors are the main drivers for the disease. Despite many years of efforts to better understand this disorder, current knowledge is limited, but several authors have agreed on the relationship between Catecholamines and the development of this syndrome.

This study was carried out by searching the databases and search engines (PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science) to find full text articles published between 2014-2018 using the keywords "Broken heart syndrome", "Apical ballooning syndrome", "Takotsubo cardiomyopathy", "Stress-induced cardiomyopathy", “Catecholamines”, “Nursing” and “Nursing care”. Of 392 articles, 21 were included in the study.

Among the various hypotheses, Catecholamine-induced microvascular dysfunction is currently the most accepted hypothesis. Stressful stimuli can increase the activity of the Hypothalamus-Pituitary- Adrenal axis and release Catecholamine. If Catecholamines are the leading cause of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, it is quite possible that prescribing exogenous Catecholamines cause this condition.

Although many studies have attributed some of the Catecholamine toxicity to the pathophysiology of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, due to the potential impact on current treatment strategies, further study is required. Due to cardiovascular side effects, the use of Catecholamines for therapeutic purposes requires more evidence. Regarding the similarity of the symptoms of this syndrome with myocardial ischemia, nursing care in this type of cardiomyopathy is very important.