By Silicon Scotland editorial
Published 25 May 2026
The first ever clinical trial of medication specifically for the long-term management of broken heart syndrome is now under way, led by the University of Aberdeen.
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy — known as broken heart syndrome — affects more than 5,000 people in the UK each year and can be fatal, with one in ten dying from the initial attack or from later complications. Often mistaken for a heart attack, a takotsubo episode is triggered by sudden emotional stress such as bereavement, but unlike a heart attack it is caused by a severe weakening of the heart muscle rather than a blocked artery. Despite the scale of the problem, there is currently no proven, evidence-based treatment specific to the condition.
The EVEREST trial, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), will recruit almost 1,000 patients from 40 hospitals across the UK over a seven-year study period. Scientists and clinicians from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds, Leicester and Belfast are all involved. The trial will test whether a class of drugs called renin-angiotensin system (RAS) inhibitors — already used to treat heart attacks, high blood pressure and heart failure — can reduce deaths, heart attacks, strokes, heart failure and repeated takotsubo attacks in people who have suffered an acute episode.
Professor Dana Dawson, Chair in Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Aberdeen and a Consultant Cardiologist at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, is leading the trial. She said: “Takotsubo syndrome affects thousands of people in the UK year on year — most of whom are women. The figures are stark in that one in ten will ultimately die from their condition. It is a growing problem and with ever improving clinical recognition the diagnosis rate has increased 5-fold in the past decade.”
Professor Dawson has spent more than 15 years researching the condition. “People living with takotsubo syndrome are effectively in limbo at the moment,” she said. “There is no proven therapy which means treatments can vary from person to person. We know that following an attack, the impact on the patient’s quality of life can be extremely debilitating.”
The trial’s funder, NIHR, described the study as the first of its kind aiming to find a specific treatment and long-term healthcare pathway for the condition. Professor Anthony Gordon, Director of NIHR’s Health Technology Assessment Programme, said: “Thousands of UK people each year are diagnosed with Takotsubo syndrome which can be triggered by severe emotional stress such as the loss of a loved one. This trial demonstrates NIHR’s mission to drive life-changing research for the health and wealth of our society.”
The investigators are also working towards extending the study to Australia through collaborations with colleagues in Perth and Adelaide.
For Scottish life sciences, the trial places Aberdeen at the centre of the UK’s first concerted effort to find an evidence-based treatment specific to takotsubo cardiomyopathy. If the trial establishes RAS inhibitors as an effective treatment, the result would set a global standard for a condition that has, until now, left patients and clinicians without a clear evidence base to work from.
