Association between Smoking and Alcohol Consumption and the Severity of Coronary Artery Injuries in Patients with AMI

Abstract

Background: Smoking is the most important risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD) and ischemic events; alcohol consumption, on the other hand, appears to have a protective role.Objective: Assess the association between smoking and alcohol consumption with the severity of coronary artery injuries in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).Methods: Cross-sectional study, performed in Santa Catarina. Variables were evaluated using the Chi-squared T/ Fisher's exact test, Kendall's correlation coefficient, Student's t test or Mann-Whitney U test. Values of p < 0.05 were considered significant. Results:Between August 2016 to June 2017, 226 patients were evaluated with first episode of AMI. There was a difference in sex distribution, showing that 59.7% of men and 85.4% of women were not alcoholic (p < 0.001). There was a higher prevalence of non-hypertensive patients who consumed alcohol than hypertensive ones (40.7% vs. 24.4% and p = 0.010) and patients without diabetes who had drinking habits than those diabetic (36.4% vs. 12.0% and p = 0.001). There was also a higher prevalence of non-diabetic patients who smoked than diabetic ones (38.1% vs. 22.0% and p = 0.035). A weak and negative correlation was found between the number of cigarettes per day and the pack-year with the TIMI frame count (r = -0.174 and p = 0.041 and r = -0.192 and p = 0.027, respectively). The other associations did not show statistical significance. Conclusion:The study showed that the number of cigarettes consumed per day and the pack-year is related to a smaller TIMI frame count, i.e., to a better coronary flow, which may be related to the Smoker's Paradox. There was no correlation between the beverage type and quantity with the SYNTAX score, Ejection fraction and TIMI frame count.