Characterization of priMary And sEcondary STress Related takOtsubo

Summary

Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is an acute and reversible form of myocardial injury often preceded by a physical or emotional trigger. Although TTS was generally considered a benign disease for its reversible nature, it is now clear that hemodynamic and electrical instability during the acute phase exposes patients to frequent serious adverse in-hospital complications. However, the pathophysiology of TTS is far from being completely understood. Consistent evidence demonstrated that the environmental events experienced by most of these patients and perceived as stressful (both physical or emotional) induce a brain activation and a stress-related response, with increasing bioavailability of local and circulating stress mediators, such as catecholamine and cortisol, which showed to play a major role in the etiology of to the "neurogenic stunning myocardium" responsible for this clinical condition.

Primary and secondary TTS showed an important clinical heterogeneity identifying two different subtypes of patients with different outcomes and risk profiles. the invastigators hypothesize that a different activation of the brain structures involved in acute stress response, as well as a different exposure to chronic stress, may subtend the different clinical and risk profiles observed in primary vs. secondary TTS patients. Moreover, the invastigators hypothesize that distinct signatures of circulating biomarkers may be associated with these two categories of TTS patients. Therefore, identifying these specific signatures may help in the diagnosis of these patients and pave the way for the identification of specific pathophysiologic pathways and the development of future therapies.

Conditions

• Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy
• Sepsis-induced Cardiomyopathy

Interventions

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) analysis

18F-FDG-PET/CT imaging will be performed 3 months after the acute event at the Department of Nuclear Medicine of Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS using an integrated scanner. Intravenous 18F-FDG (370 MBq) will be given following an overnight fast. Three-dimensional PET imaging will be performed after 1 h of quiet waiting. A non-gated, non-contrast CT will be acquired for attenuation correction. Brain structures analyzed will include the neocortex, limbic system (insula, amygdala, cingulate cortex, and hippocampus), reticular formation, brainstem, and spinal cord.

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Blood samples collection

At the time of coronary angiography for patients with primary or secondary TTS and within the first 48 hours for patients with sepsis or septic shock, arterial blood samples will be collected in 1 Vacuette® 9 mL CAT Serum Clot Activator tube and 4 Vacuette® 6 mL EDTA tubes. Furthermore, a hair sample of 6 cm will be collected for hair cortisol assay. For patients with primary or secondary TTS blood samples will be collected by venipuncture with 1 Vacuette® 9 mL CAT Serum Clot Activator tube and 4 Vacuette® 6 mL EDTA tubes also at 3 months follow-up. Blood samples will be immediately centrifuged to obtain whole blood, serum, and plasma samples, and then aliquoted into Eppendorf-type tubes. All samples will then be stored at -80°C until the analysis.

OTHER

Clinical follow up visit

Participation in this study requires for patients with primary vs secondary TTS, a follow-up visit at 3 months (90 +/- 5 gg) after enrollment to assess a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) analysis, and during the same visit, venous blood sampling as described above will be further performed.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Rocco A Montone, MD, PhD · Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, IRCCS

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

DIAGNOSTIC

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2023-03-30

Primary Completion

2026-03-02

Completion

2026-09-02

Countries

• Italy

Study Locations