Alcohol Impact on the Heart and Cardiovascular System - Hypertrophy, Remodeling and Strain Impairment - Contemporary State-of-the-Art

Abstract

The recent data show that chronic overuse of alcohol may lead to cardiovascular dysfunction, starting from traditionally judged as low ethanol doses, since the burden of arrhythmias, including atrial fibrillation, increases even in moderate alcohol consumers. The other common mechanisms of the disadvantageous impact of ethanol are related to the development of hypertension and its direct aftermath, hypertrophy, fibrosis, and diastolic dysfunction. Since the chance of the reversibility of cardiac remodeling depends on the early diagnosis of cardiac dysfunction, the wider application of novel and sensitive methods of myocardial function assessment, including longitudinal strain of the left and right ventricles, as well as the adapted protocols for stress echocardiography, should be recommended.