The Broken Heart Study II (BHS-II)

"The protocol consists of Resting Baseline (BL), Emotion Recall (ER), followed by a Recovery Phase (RP). Heart rate and blood pressure are measured at baseline and then every 5 minutes during ER and RP.~Resting Baseline (BL - 10 min). The participant is instructed to rest quietly.~Emotion Recall (ER - 5-10 min). The participant is instructed to think about the incident associated with the onset of their cardiac event and bring to mind details of the incident. When the participants have the incident clearly in mind, they are instructed to relate the incident and their experience out loud; frequent questions to re-elicit the emotion are asked.~Recovery Phase (RP - 20 min). Upon completion of RP, the catheter is removed and participants are de-instrumented. Blood samples for plasma catecholamines, assessments of heart rate variability, and echocardiograms are performed 10-min into BL, 10-min into ER, and 18 minutes into RP."