Anxiety and anger immediately prior to myocardial infarction and long-term mortality: Characteristics of high-risk patients.

Objective: Acute high levels of anger and anxiety are associated with an elevated risk of myocardial infarction (MI) in the following two hours. MIs preceded by these acute negative emotions may also have a poor long-term prognosis, but information about high-risk patients is lacking. We examined whether young age and female sex are associated with MIs that are preceded by negative emotions and whether age and sex moderate the subsequent increased mortality risk following MI preceded by negative emotions.

Emotional, neurohormonal, and hemodynamic responses to mental stress in Tako-Tsubo cardiomyopathy.

Tako-Tsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC) is characterized by apical ballooning of the left ventricle and symptoms and signs mimicking acute myocardial infarction. The high catecholamine levels in the acute phase of TTC and common emotional triggers suggest a dysregulated stress response system. This study examined whether patients with TTC show exaggerated emotional, neurohormonal, and hemodynamic responses to mental stress.

Is it possible to differentiate between Takotsubo cardiomyopathy and acute anterior ST-elevation myocardial infarction?

Introduction: Several studies have investigated the ability of the twelve-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) to reliably distinguish Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC) from an acute anterior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). In these studies, only ECG changes were required - ST-segment deviation and/or T-wave inversion - in TC whereas in acute anterior STEMI, ECGs had to meet STEMI criteria. In the majority of these studies, patients of both genders were used even though TC predominantly occurs in women.

The independent association of anxiety with non-cardiac chest pain.

Non-cardiac chest pain (NCCP) is common in clinical cardiology. Anxiety is an important factor in NCCP because of its role in the neurobehavioural processes of pain regulation. It is not well established that which specific anxiety symptoms are disproportionately elevated in NCCP and whether the association between anxiety and NCCP is independent of personality factors.