Reverse redistribution of Tc-99m tetrofosmin in a patient with "takotsubo" cardiomyopathy.

An 82-year-old woman was referred to the authors' institution because of an electrocardiographic abnormality mimicking acute myocardial infarction. Left ventriculography showed apical wall hypokinesis and basal wall hyperkinesis. Coronary angiography revealed no organic stenosis. Three days earlier, she was told she had renal cancer. She was diagnosed as having "takotsubo" cardiomyopathy. She underwent early and delayed Tc-99m tetrofosmin single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). The early SPECT images revealed homogeneous tracer uptake in the left ventricle, but the delayed images revealed decreased uptake in the apical wall. Reverse redistribution of Tc-99m tetrofosmin was observed in this patient with "takotsubo" cardiomyopathy.