Heavy alcohol drinking and subclinical echocardiographic abnormalities of structure and function

Abstract

ObjectiveThe aim of the study is to assess changes in heart structure and function associated with heavy alcohol use by comparing echocardiographic indices in a population-based sample to those in patients admitted to an inpatient facility with severe alcohol problems.Methods and resultsWe used data from the Know Your Heart study (2015–2017) which is a cross-sectional study that recruited 2479 participants aged 35–69 years from the general population of the city of Arkhangelsk in Northwest Russia and 278 patients from the Arkhangelsk Regional Psychiatric Hospital with a primary diagnosis related to chronic alcohol use (narcology clinic subsample). The drinking patterns of the population-based sample were characterised in detail. We used regression models controlling for age, sex, smoking, education and waist to hip ratio to evaluate the differences in echocardiographic indices in participants with different drinking patterns. The means of left ventricular end-diastolic diameter and indexed left atrial systolic diameter were increased among heavy drinkers (narcology clinic subsample), while mean left ventricular ejection fraction was decreased in this group compared with the population-based sample. In contrast, the harmful and hazardous drinkers in the population-based sample did not differ from non-problem drinkers with respect to echocardiographic indices of systolic and diastolic function.ConclusionsExtremely heavy drinking is associated with a specific set of structural and functional abnormalities of the heart that may be regarded as precursors of alcohol-related dilated cardiomyopathy.

Cardiac systolic and diastolic function in relation to cardiovascular risk factor distribution: a comparison of strain-rate imaging in Russian and Norwegian populations

“…Owing to the lack of relevance, we decided not to include this risk factor in our analysis. We assume that alcohol consumption and drinking patterns might have had a prominent effect in the present study, especially on diastolic cardiac function (24).…”

“…This study con rms the previously described unfavourable risk pro le of the Russian population. The Russian participants had higher diastolic and systolic BP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels, BMI, prevalence of diabetes, active smoking, and renal failure (4,6,23,24). Only serum cholesterol levels were similar in both populations; however, triglyceride levels were higher in the Russian population, possibly due to the higher incidence of diabetes.…”

“…However, there is a possible prominent difference in alcohol intake between the Russian and Norwegian populations, which has not been considered. Alcohol consumption is associated with impaired relaxation and high lling pressures (24). In fact, a recent KYH sub-study of patients diagnosed with chronic alcohol usage showed the dependency of diastolic functional parameters such as e´, E/e', and LA volume on alcohol consumption (24) in a subclinical setting.…”

“…Alcohol consumption is associated with impaired relaxation and high lling pressures (24). In fact, a recent KYH sub-study of patients diagnosed with chronic alcohol usage showed the dependency of diastolic functional parameters such as e´, E/e', and LA volume on alcohol consumption (24) in a subclinical setting. In another KYH sub-analysis, the association between measures of diastolic function, alcohol amount per session, and binge drinking (positive for E/e' and negative for e') was reported in a general population sample (26).…”

Socio-Demographic, Lifestyle, and Cardiometabolic Characteristics Associated with Low-Grade Systemic Inflammation in Russian Adult Population

“…For instance, higher CRP levels can be associated with lower education levels and a poor financial situation [23,24]. The level of alcohol intake may be important as it demonstrated J-and U-shaped relationships with CRP, and heavy drinking was shown to cause specific damages to body tissues, cardiac remodeling, and alcohol-related cardiomyopathy [20,21,25,26]. The correction of lifestyle factors (physical activity, diet, alcohol consumption, and smoking) was demonstrated to reduce inflammation levels [4,22,[27][28][29][30].…”