Gartenberg Ariella, Mathew Toby, Blyakher Mikhail, Chertoff Andrew
Emergency Medicine Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Jacobi Medical Center, Montefiore Medical Center, 1400 Pelham Parkway, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA.
Emergency Medicine Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
CJEM. 2025 Sep 13. doi: 10.1007/s43678-025-00979-2.
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a stress-induced non-ischemic cardiomyopathy that can result from trauma, stimulant use, financial strain, and opioid withdrawal. Opioid withdrawal induced cardiomyopathy is rarely reported in the literature and is thought to result from increased sympathetic activity and catecholamine surge. Early management of opioid withdrawal with opioid agonists, like methadone or buprenorphine, can be crucial. With the opioid epidemic and ongoing rise in opioid-related overdoses, emergency department physicians should maintain a high clinical suspicion for this serious cardiac complication.
This case report details a rare association of opioid withdrawal induced Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy and highlights the need for heightened clinician suspicion in the emergency department.
