Effects of Alcohol on Experimental Atrial Fibrillation

The association of alcohol abuse, especially binge drinking, and atrial fibrillation, recently termed "holiday heart," has been recognized for some time. The effects of alcohol on atrial fibrillation, however, have not been studied. Accordingly, measurements of hemodynamics and duration of electrically induced atrial fibrillation were made in alpha-chloralose anesthetized dogs during the 30 min before and during a 30-min intravenous infusion of 1.7 g/kg of ethanol (25%, v/v), which produced an average infusion concentration of 254 +/- 21 mg/dl. Average cardiac output, left ventricular (LV) peak dp/dt, and pulmonary artery mean pressure did not change, whereas LV systolic (116 +/- 8 to 107 +/- 9 mm Hg, p less than 0.05) and aortic mean (95 +/- 7 to 87 +/- 9 mmHg, p less than 0.05) pressures decreased. Heart rate and atrioventricular conduction in sinus rhythm, and atrial and ventricular activity in atrial fibrillation also did not change. Despite a decrease in arterial pH, duration of atrial fibrillation decreased (356 +/- 143 to 93 +/- 38 sec, p less than 0.05). Moreover, at 15 min, when average ethanol concentration was 208 +/- 20 mg/dl, and aortic mean pressure (95 +/- 7 to 85 +/- 8 mm Hg, p less than 0.05), pulmonary artery mean pressure (16 +/- 2 to 14 +/- 2 mm Hg, p less than 0.05), and LV peak dp/dt (1563 +/- 143 to 1285 +/- 167 mm Hg-sec-1, p less than 0.05) were reduced, duration of atrial fibrillation was less than control (356 +/- 143 to 114 +/- 56 sec, p less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)