A case of stress cardiomyopathy --the mid-ventricular variant.

A 66-year-old female presented with symptoms and signs of acute myocardial infarction after an episode of intense emotional stress. A coronary angiogram revealed coronary arteries without significant lesions, and hyperkinetic basal and apical segments with an akinetic mid-ventricular segment on the ventriculogram. Ten days after discharge, she underwent a cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) study which revealed complete resolution of the wall motion abnormality. After gadolinium contrast, no delayed enhancement patterns typical of either myocardial infarction or myocarditis were observed. This suggested a diagnosis of the recently described mid-ventricular variant of stress cardiomyopathy.