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Photo from the Honolulu Star Bulletin article.
Rare Heart Syndrome Detected
A Manoa School of Medicine student Stephen Chun has detected—for the first time in Hawai’i—an unusual medical condition popularly called the Broken Heart Syndrome in an elderly Honolulu patient. His findings will be published in the International Journal of Cardiology.
Broken Heart Syndrome was first detected in Japan in the 1990s. Most victims recently suffered the death of a loved one, and were stricken with chest pain and signs of a heart attack, but no clogged arteries. If left untreated, the heart returns to normal in a few weeks. However, if the condition is mistakenly diagnosed as an actual heart attack, the victim could be administered anti-clotting medication that can cause severe bleeding.
Chun studied case histories of the syndrome, known formally as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, while in Japan. He recognized the symptoms while assisting with the examination of a 77-year-old Native Hawaiian woman, and it was confirmed by his supervising physicians.
Read the news release or the Honolulu Star Bulletin article.