Heart Block in Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy

It is not unusual for cardiomyopathies to present with conduction abnormalities. However, reports of the occurrence of complete heart block in alcoholic cardiomyopathy are infrequent. Brigden and Robinson¹reported 50 cases of alcoholic cardiomyopathy; 19 had some form of conduction disease. Eight patients had left bundle-branch block (LBBB), four had right bundle-branch block (RBBB), and seven had a prolonged RP interval, and one patient showed complete heart block. Tobin et al²reviewed 30 cases of alcoholic cardiomyopathy. One patient had a prolonged PR interval, one had LBBB, and two patients were noted to have RBBB. Evans³noted a bundle-branch block pattern in two of 20 patients having alcoholic cardiomyopathy. It appears that the development of complete heart block in alcoholic cardiomyopathy is unusual. We report, herein, a patient who developed cardiomyopathy secondary to excessive beer consumption that was then complicated by complete heart block.