By Amin H. Karim MD
In 2014 while on STEMI team call I admitted a patient a 56 year old medical researcher, to the Houston Methodist Hospital with severe chest pain and EKG changes of an anterior wall myocardial infarction. He had lost his pet cat 2 days before and was sad. Cardiac catheterization done as an emergency showed normal coronaries with an akinetic apex. He was treated as a case of stress induced cardiomyopathy, the stress in this case being death of his pet. He is lost to followup.
In 2018, I admitted a 54 year old lady status post cardiac arrest, again showing normal coronaries and severely depressed left ventricle. There was mild coronary artery disease, in no way accounting for the wall motion abnormalities on the left ventriculogram. She too had lost her pet cat a day or two ago resulting in severe anguish. She underwent placement of an Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator (ICD) and is doing well 5 years later. Her left ventricle has recovered completely.
These 2 cases were written up by our observer medial residents from Pakistan and China. It was published on Cureus and is posted below:
GlobeMedic 