Evaluation of the InterTAK Diagnostic Score in differentiating Takotsubo syndrome from acute coronary syndrome. A single center experience

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of a novel clinical score - the InterTAK Diagnostic Score in differentiating Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) from acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Methods: Medical records of 40 consecutive patients with ACS and 20 patients with TTS were managed and retrospectively analyzed at the documented center. Each patient was evaluated using the InterTAK Diagnostic Score. To illustrate the diagnostic ability of the score, a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was performed. Results: Takotsube syndrome patients were more often female compared to the ACS group (70% vs. 27.5%, p = 0.002), an emotional trigger was more prevalent among the TTS group (65% vs. 7.5%, p < 0.001). The area under the curve (AUC) for the score was 0.885 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.78-0.97). Using a cut-off value of 45 points, the sum of sensitivity and specificity was the highest. However, when patients with a score of >= 50 were diagnosed as TTS, 85% were diagnosed correctly. When patients with score <= 31 were diagnosed as ACS, 92% were diagnosed correctly. Conclusions: The InterTAK Diagnostic Score might help in differentiating TTS from ACSs with high sensitivity and specificity. This finding requires further investigation to confirm its clinical utility.