Takotsubo cardiomyopathy in an infant with acute mediastinitis following cardiovascular surgery: An unusual diagnosis and successful management.

Abstract

Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is a rare cause of ventricular dysfunction in children, commonly associated with neurological injury and emotional stress. After cardiac surgery, ventricular dysfunction may result from cardiopulmonary bypass-related myocardial stunning; however, other causes, including TTS, may develop days or weeks after surgical procedures. Stress factors can have multiple etiologies; rarely, sepsis is the triggering factor in infants following cardiac surgery. We present the case of a 5-month-old girl who, 2 weeks after ventricular septal defect repair, developed infectious mediastinitis secondary to a deep surgical site infection, with echocardiographic findings consistent with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.