Skip to main content
PMC home page
British Heart Journal logoLink to British Heart Journal
. 1987 May;57(5):468–473. doi: 10.1136/hrt.57.5.468

Alcohol and new onset atrial fibrillation: a case-control study of a current series.

P Koskinen, M Kupari, H Leinonen, K Luomanmäki
PMCID: PMC1277202  PMID: 3593617

Abstract

The aetiological role of alcohol in new onset atrial fibrillation was evaluated in a case-control study of 100 consecutive patients aged 21-64 years. Clinical examination, routine diagnostic tests, and echocardiography revealed an underlying disease or other identifiable factor for atrial fibrillation in 65 patients (group 1); 35 patients had idiopathic atrial fibrillation (group 2). The most common diseases associated with atrial fibrillation were ischaemic heart disease (21%), hypertension (13%), and cardiomyopathy (8%). Data on alcohol consumption were obtained by interviewing the patients and their age and sex matched controls on admission. The mean daily alcohol intake of group 2 patients during the week preceding atrial fibrillation was significantly larger than that of either controls or group 1 patients. Compared with controls significantly more patients in both groups with atrial fibrillation had consumed alcohol within two days of the onset of the arrhythmia. Significantly more patients had onset of arrhythmia on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday than on any other weekday, including patients with high alcohol intake. This study establishes alcohol as an important precipitating factor for new onset atrial fibrillation.

Full text

PDF
473

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. BRIGDEN W., ROBINSON J. ALCOHOLIC HEART DISEASE. Br Med J. 1964 Nov 21;2(5420):1283–1289. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.5420.1283. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Engel T. R., Luck J. C. Effect of whiskey on atrial vulnerability and "holiday heart". J Am Coll Cardiol. 1983 Mar;1(3):816–818. doi: 10.1016/s0735-1097(83)80195-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Ettinger P. O., Wu C. F., De La Cruz C., Jr, Weisse A. B., Ahmed S. S., Regan T. J. Arrhythmias and the "Holiday Heart": alcohol-associated cardiac rhythm disorders. Am Heart J. 1978 May;95(5):555–562. doi: 10.1016/0002-8703(78)90296-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Gould L., Reddy C. V., Becker W., Oh K. C., Kim S. G. Electrophysiologic properties of alcohol in man. J Electrocardiol. 1978 Jul;11(3):219–226. doi: 10.1016/s0022-0736(78)80120-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Greenspon A. J., Schaal S. F. The "holiday heart": electrophysiologic studies of alcohol effects in alcoholics. Ann Intern Med. 1983 Feb;98(2):135–139. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-98-2-135. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Huston T. P., Puffer J. C., Rodney W. M. The athletic heart syndrome. N Engl J Med. 1985 Jul 4;313(1):24–32. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198507043130106. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. LAMB L. E., POLLARD L. W. ATRIAL FIBRILLATION IN FLYING PERSONNEL. Circulation. 1964 May;29:694–701. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.29.5.694. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Lowenstein S. R., Gabow P. A., Cramer J., Oliva P. B., Ratner K. The role of alcohol in new-onset atrial fibrillation. Arch Intern Med. 1983 Oct;143(10):1882–1885. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. PERMAN E. S. The effect of ethyl alcohol on the secretion from the adrenal medulla in man. Acta Physiol Scand. 1958 Dec 15;44(3-4):241–247. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-1716.1958.tb01624.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Peter R. H., Gracey J. G., Beach T. B. A clinical profile of idiopathic atrial fibrillation. A functional disorder of atrial rhythm. Ann Intern Med. 1968 Jun;68(6):1288–1295. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-68-6-1288. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Regan T. J., Wu C. F., Weisse A. B., Moschos C. B., Ahmed S. S., Lyons M. M. Acute myocardial infarction in toxic cardiomyopathy without coronary obstruction. Circulation. 1975 Mar;51(3):453–461. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.51.3.453. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Rich E. C., Siebold C., Campion B. Alcohol-related acute atrial fibrillation. A case-control study and review of 40 patients. Arch Intern Med. 1985 May;145(5):830–833. doi: 10.1001/archinte.145.5.830. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Thornton J. R. Atrial fibrillation in healthy non-alcoholic people after an alcoholic binge. Lancet. 1984 Nov 3;2(8410):1013–1015. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(84)91109-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Virtanen K. S. Evidence of myocardial ischaemia in patients with chest pain syndromes and normal coronary angiograms. Acta Med Scand Suppl. 1985;694:58–68. doi: 10.1111/j.0954-6820.1985.tb08801.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Heart Journal are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES