Excessive alcohol intake may increase heart rate, atrial tachycardias in young adults
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Key takeaways:
- Researchers observed an increase in heart rate and atrial tachycardias as alcohol consumption increased in young adults.
- Some participants experienced notable arrhythmia episodes including atrial fibrillation.
Increased alcohol intake was associated with a significant increase in heart rate and an excess of atrial tachycardias in young adults with no history of cardiac arrhythmias, according to a study published in the European Heart Journal.
As Healio previously reported, results from the MunichBREW study revealed a significant association between breath alcohol concentration and cardiac arrhythmias. However, questions remain on this topic, according to the researchers.
“Most data reporting alcohol-related arrhythmias were derived from small case series, from secondary retrospective analyses or from heterogenous study cohorts,” Stefan Brunner, MD, of the department of medicine and center for sports medicine at LMU University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in Munich, Germany, and colleagues wrote. “Also, the MunichBREW study had a cross-sectional design. Therefore, arrhythmias with a delayed onset following acute excessive alcohol consumption were missed.”
To investigate the occurrence and temporal course of cardiac arrhythmias during and after excessive alcohol consumption, Brunner and colleagues conducted the MunichBREW II study, an investigator-initiated, prospective, single-arm, single-center cohort study of 193 individuals (mean age, 30 years; 36% women) with no history of cardiac arrhythmias who voluntarily planned acute alcohol consumption with expected peak breath alcohol concentrations (BAC) of at least 1.2 g/kg between October 2016 and July 2017.
The researchers used a handheld breathalyzer to assess BAC at baseline, then hourly for up to 8 hours.
Alcoholic beverages consumed by participants included beer (0.5 L; 20 g ethanol), wine (0.25 L; 20 g ethanol), liquor (0.02 L; 6.2 g ethanol) and long drink, an alcoholic mixed drink (0.04 L liquor; 12.4 g ethanol).
Starting at baseline (hour 0), the participants wore patch Holter monitors to record ECG for 48 hours over the drinking period (hours 1-5), recovery period (hours 6-19), control period 1 (hours 25-29) and control period 2 (hours 30-43).
Researchers analyzed the ECG findings for mean heart rate, atrial tachycardia, premature atrial complexes, premature ventricular complexes and selected measures of heart rate variability.
During the drinking period, participants had an average maximum BAC of 1.4 ± 0.4 g/kg, which similar levels in men and women.
Brunner and colleagues observed a significant increase in heart rate (P < .001) and, in parallel, an excess of atrial tachycardias as alcohol consumption increased, with a maximum average heart rate of 97 ± 16.2 bpm reached after 4 hours compared with a baseline average heart rate of 89.5 ± 12.6 bpm.
The researchers also found that premature atrial complexes were suppressed during the drinking and recovery periods but significantly increased during control period 1 and control period 2.
Conversely, premature ventricular complexes occurred more frequently during the drinking and recovery periods and less frequently during both control periods.
Additionally, the researchers noted that 10 participants experienced notable arrhythmia episodes, primarily during the recovery period, including atrial fibrillation, a short arrhythmic atrial tachycardia run, nonsustained ventricular tachycardias and various degrees of atrioventricular block.
“Our data support the understanding that an alcohol-induced modulation of the autonomic nervous system is mediating the arrhythmia incidence,” the researchers wrote. “Taken together, the ‘Holiday Heart Syndrome’ remains rare in otherwise healthy individuals, but should be recognized as a relevant health problem.”
The researchers acknowledged several study limitations, including that they could not fully confirm specific details on preexisting arrhythmias or CV disorders because participants’ medical histories were primarily based on self-report.
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