Broken heart syndrome is also known as stress cardiomyopathy
(SCM), or takotsubo cardiomyopathy and is a recently recognised condition
that is proposed to be associated with psychiatric illnesses .
The condition is characterised by onset of symptoms mimicking coronary
heart disease and is commonly linked with experience of significant
stress . A variety of emotional and environmental stressors,
including significant earthquakes have been associated with this
condition . The precise aetiology of SCMremains unknown, however
psychiatric illnesses, such as chronic anxiety disorders, have been
proposed as risk factors for the development of SCM .
The Christchurch earthquake sequence in 2010–2011 repeatedly
exposed the entire population of Christchurch city, some 350,000
people, to major stress and life disruption. There was an increase in
the incidence of SCMfollowing the earthquakes, however the condition
remained rare despite the number of people exposed to this stressor .
This led us to hypothesise that there is no difference in antecedent
psychiatric risk factors between participants who develop earthquakerelated
and sporadic SCM compared to age-matched healthy controls.