In 1983, the Japanese doctor Hikaru Sato diagnosed the first medical case of “broken heart syndrome”. Seen in patients after a significant physical or emotional stressor, such as grief, the condition results in a sudden, temporary weakening of the heart’s muscular wall.
Sato named it takotsubo cardiomyopathy, because in those with the syndrome the left ventricle of the heart changes to resemble a takotsubo – a Japanese pot traditionally used to catch octopus, with a narrow neck and wide base.
