Key result
Among sudden cardiac death victims with recent alcohol intake, 86% died during the late stage of inebriation, characterized by higher urine than blood alcohol concentrations.
Why the study?
Alcohol has an immediate effect on cardiac rhythm and many sudden cardiac deaths occur after alcohol intake, but the association between the timing of intake and sudden cardiac death required investigation.
Does the timing of alcohol intake (early vs. late stage of inebriation) associate with specific characteristics and triggers of sudden cardiac death?
Observational (n=5,869)
Does the timing of alcohol intake (early vs. late stage of inebriation) associate with specific characteristics and triggers of sudden cardiac death?
A significant proportion (27%) of sudden cardiac deaths are associated with recent alcohol intake, with the vast majority (86%) occurring during the late stage of inebriation.
Late-stage alcohol may heighten SCD vulnerability; hypothesis-generating for timing-specific triggers, needs prospective confirmation.
Alcohol is known to have an immediate effect on cardiac rhythm, and previous studies have found that a notable proportion of sudden cardiac deaths (SCD) occur after alcohol intake. The objective of the present study was to investigate the association between the timing of alcohol intake and SCD. Our study population is drawn from the Fingesture study, which includes 5869 consecutive SCD cases from Northern Finland who underwent medicolegal autopsy 1998-2017. Toxicological analysis was performed if there was any suspicion of toxic exposure, or if there was no obvious immediate cause of SCD at autopsy. We found that 1563 (27%) of all SCD victims had alcohol in blood or urine at autopsy (mean age (61 ± 10 years, 88% male). Eighty-six percent of alcohol-related SCD victims had higher urine alcohol concentration than blood alcohol concentration, referring to the late-stage inebriation. These results suggest that the majority of alcohol-related SCDs occur at the late stage of inebriation.
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Holmström et al. (2022) conducted an observational in Sudden cardiac death (n=5,869). Alcohol intake vs. No alcohol intake / Early stage of inebriation was evaluated on Proportion of alcohol-related sudden cardiac deaths occurring at the late stage of inebriation (BAC ≤ UAC). Among sudden cardiac death victims with recent alcohol intake, 86% died during the late stage of inebriation, characterized by higher urine than blood alcohol concentrations.
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